Q: My husband and I are getting ready to apply for a mortgage to buy our first home. I pulled our credit reports to do a preliminary check and found out that my husband’s credit is just fine, but mine is a mess due to all sorts of errors.

There are accounts on there that don’t belong to me that have been charged off, the date of birth and spelling of my name is totally wrong. There are other errors as well.

At any rate, we are ready to move soon on a home purchase and it could take months for me to clear up my credit. Is there any way to get a mortgage using only my husband’s credit (he is the sole provider anyway), and somehow add my name to the title?

A: The easy answer is yes. Since your husband is the sole provider, he can get a mortgage based on his credit alone. Later, after you close, you can be added to the title.

While it will probably take you months to dispute and then correct the bad information on your credit history, you should not wait one more moment to start the process.

You never know when a change of fortunes — perhaps a severe illness, divorce or untimely death — will force you to rely on your credit history to get you through the tough times. If your credit history is riddled with errors, you could be in for a rough ride.