A co-signer is any person or entity who takes on financial responsibility for another person or entity’s financial obligation. In other words, a co-signer is promising to pay off the debt of the original signer in the case that the original signer ends up not paying his or her own debt.
Co-signers are usually necessary when an original signer has low or no credit history. For example, if a person has a history of not paying off his or her debt, then a car dealership may not sell a car to this person unless he or she has another person c-sign for the car that has good credit history. Also, an apartment complex may require a person just out of school to have a co-signer on their apartment because they currently have little or no credit history.