What's the final word on "joint applicant"? I thought I understood that a guarantor is not a joint applicant since the guarantor is someone who is “required by the creditor as a condition for granting the credit requested”, which is excluded from the definition of joint applicant in the commentary to 202.7. But I see some posts where people are saying they get guarantors to sign the statement of intent as joint applicants if they’re presented contemporaneously with the applicant. I understand that timing is a key issue for someone to be a “joint applicant”(so the lender doesn’t try to pull that person in later) but the other half of the definition refers to “someone who applies contemporaneously with the applicant for shared or joint credit”. So don’t they only count as a “joint applicant” if they APPLY contemporaneously, not just if they offer to guaranty contemporaneously?

Somebody please help me, by brain hurts!