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You might consider contractualizing a payment plan from your partner and collateralizing it with a lien of personal property.

If you had more time, you could identify what is causing your partners score to be down and take the appropriate steps to get his score up. I would still pursue fixing your partners credit as soon as possible so that you do not have this arise in the future when you need capital for growth or equipment. Have a professional analyze the credit problem and give you a realistic timeline for it to be fixed. This will allow you to still do some planning for the future or even perhaps to refinance.

If you go forward with the loan without securing some interest from your partner it might create a problem for you down the road.

Please do not take this post the wrong way but just some things to think about:

1) If you are co-applicants, you are really on the hook for 100% anyway (joint and several liability) so consider putting it all in your name. You might be better off this way anyway and you would be in control of all the funding.

2) Think about what the professional lenders are telling you - you are a good risk, your partner is not. How long have you know your partner? Why did he get into credit trouble in the first place? Might be a good guy//woman just not good with money. Think about each persons responsibility in the partnership.