<prompt> Human: My in-laws whom I like, just for the record have come to me and asked me to co-sign for their youngest sons student loans. I have been building my credit with an eye on getting a mortgage and am close to the threshold to start applying in the next few months. Will helping them out negatively affect my credit? Will the loans make me look over extended when looking for a mortgage? What negative consequences are there?  <response>: Unless youre happy to accept that you might be paying for this kids college, then no. Hell no. Also, why arent his parents doing it themselves? Either they think its too risky in which case you should run or they have bad credit themselves in which case they make terrible money decisions, and you should run. Theres no upside for you here, and potentially a LOT of downside. 