Ask your wife to call her morgage company and ask if she added someone, would there credit rating affect her morgage payments. She could ask would it be cheaper if the person added on had credit better or would it cost more if the person had worse credit than hers.

It's certainly possible, depending on how bad your credit is and her current mortgage rate. You could go to a site such as lendingtree.com and fill in all the data and see what it brings back, though, just to get an idea, or have her contact her mortgage company and get a quote. There are pros and cons to doing this. For YOU, it would help with your credit score, providing you made all your payments on time. You can likewise up your rating, though, by opening a joint CC account and keeping your balance down or payed off, always making payments on time. For her, this is really not such a smart idea. If you live in a community property state, all your payments and additions to the house would count if you were to divorce, even with your name NOT being on the mortgage. She could still be required to pay you off for the money you have spent and the improvements that have been made since you married. It could make it a LOT harder on her, depending on how long she's had that house. She would essentially be giving up her personal stake in it and would be assigning you as an equal owner and that really isn't the wisest move. I know you're newlyweds, but it's a fact that marriages break up. You don't need to be added to the mortgage to stake a claim on the property, but you likewise don't want to be stuck with having to refinance the house AGAIN in the event you split. Personally, I think it's really not necessary. I say give it some time and make this decision a little further down the line.

Is she adding your name to the deed...and/or the mortgage?

I'm in the mortgage biz so here's a few comments: Adding you to the mortgage while your credit is not up to par may not be a good idea. It would require a refinance and a review of both of your credit profiles. An alternative may be to add your name to title (with a deed), work on your credit and then refinance in both of your names. It's best not to have your credit rating pull hers down as this may have an adverse affect on the marriage. Good luck on whatever you decide.