Stupidly co-signed on a car loan

As a part of cosigner obligation you are obligated to pay the debt if the original debtor fails to repay it. So, get help of an attorney.

thats correct, by co-signing, you legally have the same obligation to pay as your friend does. If they try to go after him and are unsuccessful, they can then come after you for the entire balance.

I would talk with your friend ASAP and set up some kind of plan. i would also check with him to see if he was served a summons on this case or not. It would seem to me that if youre getting a letter addressed to you from the court, then something isnt right--they are required to serve all respondent parties in a case. if they served him but not you, then I would think that it was improper service. you may consider checking into that one.

i know someone who co-signed on their son's car loan once. the son got the car repo'ed in less than a year, and they sued over it. They garnished the father's wages for the full amount, they didnt even try to take such action against the son as far as i know. in short, they will pick which of you gives them the best chance of getting their money back and that will be their target.

Others have said already, so I won't keep restating the same thing. But yes, co-signing on a debt makes you just as responsible for it as the other person(s).

That being said, like most debts, they will eventually sue for the balance. However, in a court case, all defendant(s) have to be served before judgment can be entered against them. If you were never served a summons you might be able to argue that much and have the judgment vacated. However, that only buys you time because they would just re-file and have you served.

If a judgment is entered against you and you don't pay it, there are a number of things that the creditor can do to enforce the judgment. They can garnish your wages. They can levy your bank account(s). If you have any non-exempt property, they can seize it. They can put a lien on your house. Etc, etc, etc.

NOW, if you want to entertain an idea, here's some legalese... Legally speaking, for a co-signer to have an equal detriment (responsibility for the debt), they should also share an equal benefit from the resulting transaction. Meaning in order for you to be a co-signer, you should have had reasonable access to the vehicle so that you could benefit from driving it. In the absence of those qualifications (ie if you did not live with your friend), you could reasonably argue that you are considered moreso a guarantor and not a co-signer. (It would also be a shoo-in to make that argument if the car was only registered in your friend's name, and you weren't on the title).

The difference between a guarantor and co-signer is that, while a co-x has equal responsibility, a guarantor's responsibility only arises when the creditor has exhausted its efforts on the borrower first. Meaning, they would have to sue your friend first, and be unsuccessful in collection, before they could sue you.

Now it will most likely take a lawyer to plead and argue that you are a guarantor not co-x. And that will only buy you time too, because sooner or later if your friend doesn't pay, they will still be able to sue you. But it is a thought.

DebtCruncher, it is correct that I was more of a guarantor then a co-signer because we didn't live together, and the title was not in my name, nor did I have keys to the car. There is also documentation that I have were the friend made the payments (when they were making them) and I only made one.

Question, what is non-exempt property?

Non-exempt property: -


Source: - "www.nolo.com/definition.cfm/term/7A338213-8F61-4D46-A58EA10173F22C8A"

Non-exempt property will be anything they can take from you through court process.

On the contrary, exempt propertt is that which the laws will not let them take. State laws usually set the exemptions on property. Most things of little/no value they cannot take (like household goods, clothes, photo albums, etc). Mostly it will be big-ticket items that they might be able to take and sell.

In the page Is bankruptcy a viable option, a point-wise list of exempt as well as non-exempt properties are given.

I do not mean to throw salt on your wounds, but co-signing for the car loan makes you obligated to pay if your friend has defaulted.

One thing you may try is to talk to your friend and get some sort of registered document from your friend saying that it indemnifies you against all charges this debt.

This is at least some form of protection which you could try, though it is not a sure shot method of solving the problem, it may help.

Quote:

It may be difficult at this stage to get some kind of witness from the court I feel. It will work best with just trying to cut a sorry state with the friend and work around the situation that way.

And then once that is done you could get the document of indeminity legally registered in some form.

Once you co-sign, there's no taking your name off the debt. A letter from your friend "indemnifying" you will not hold up in court.

Yes please consult an attorney but im pretty sure once you sign as a co-sign you are obligated to pay this loan back as it has defaulted.

Debtcruncher is correct - nothing will remove you from the debt once you co-sign for it, other than death. (Kind of a hard way to get out of paying a debt, huh?)

You definitely need to get some legal help on this one.