I’m new to the US (5 months now) and when I went to buy a Kia car, the dealership quoted higher down payment and higher APR. It’s understandable since I’m new to the US. So, a close friend of mine with an excellent credit score agreed to be a co-applicant.
When we were filling out the initial credit check paper forms, my friend’s details were on the top and mine followed his (iirc, my details were in the co-applicant boxes). When asked, the dealership said it’s normal. With this, dealership gave a quote with low down payment and promotional Kia finance 1.9% APR. But when we were signing the rest of the forms, to our surprise, both of us were listed as car owners. On top of it, his name was first and my name tagged along. When asked to put my name first and then my friend’s name, they said that since we’re using his credit score for low APR, it has to be done this way and the ownership is OR not AND, so it doesn’t matter whose name comes first. Since, the owners were listed as OR and not AND, I can do anything with the car without my friend’s permission.
Also, all paper documents will go his place and not mine. Although, they said after getting the first paper mail, we can call Kia finance and update the mailing address.
My question are:
1)Is listing me as co-applicant normal in the credit check application?
2)Can’t they just give the sole ownership to me and involve my friend only on the finance stuff?
3)Since I was listed as co-applicant, will this help build/improve my credit score at all?
4)Once I pay off the loan and change the ownership to sole(myself), will it considered as change of ownership? When I decide to sell the car, can I list it down as single owner?
5)Are there any legal stuff that I should be aware of?
