Q. I am getting a divorce. Both my husband and I are listed on the mortgage to our house, but he left in 2004 and I have been solely paying for the mortgage bi-weekly out of "my" checking account. Now I'm having problems getting a new mortgage loan because they never reported my payments to the credit bureau under my name. Can they correct this and show that I have been making the payments for more than two years?

A. When mortgages have more than one name on them, payments are usually reported as being jointly made on both of the borrowers credit histories. So your credit history should note all payments as being jointly made with your husband.

If those payments don't appear on your history, you can definitely have them added. Ask your current mortgage company to forward the payment history on your account to the credit reporting agencies under your name. But those payments will have to appear as being jointly made as long as your husband's name is also on the mortgage.

If potential lenders still have questions about your ability to make the payments, offer to provide them with canceled checks from your personal account.