aero3685

Yeah... you live and learn. Sometimes you have to learn from your mistakes.

So, my now ex-gf and I were co-signed on a loan. She had a bunch of CC debt, and needed a co-signer to put it in one loan to get it paid off quicker. There is a total of 6k on it now (has been open for about a year).

6k to some is pocket change... to me... its quite a bit.

She is still making the payments, and seems like she will continue, but... who knows.

I was going to have her just get a secured loan on her car... oh wait, her car isnt paid off like she told me it was. Imagine that.

So do I have any legal leverage to force her to get it into her name if indeed it was all her debt to begin with, and the plan was to have it paid off in 1.5 years from opening it? I mean could I get all the documentation and take her to civil court if I needed to? (civil is <5k right?).


Yes, I know. Stupid immature thing for me to have gotten myself into the situation, but what can I say, I WONT do it again!

magician

Probably not.

I suspect that you mean small claims; civil court covers any legal proceeding that isn't criminal, and there is no limit to civil damages.

aklucsarits

First of all, I am not a lawyer. The following is not legal advice...

It does not sound like you have any standing to sue her for anything at this point. It does not sound like there was a contract, verbal or otherwise, that she would refinance the debt into her name only. And you have not yet been harmed nor incurred any losses yet.

When you co-signed that loan, you signed a contract that made you legally responsible for the loan and the repayment of that debt. So even if she were to default on payments, you are still responsible and would not seem to have any grounds to sue her to recover that debt.

You say that she's paying the bills for now. So the account is presumably current. It's not in collections, and you have not incurred any losses yet. So IMHO, your best angle is to continue to make every effort to remain on good terms with her so that she continues to make the payments. In other words, I would not go threatening her with some lawsuit over who-knows-what because that only seems like a sure fire way to prod her to become vendictive and stop paying on the loan.

Andrew

mxt_77

Was this an unsecured loan? If so, I suspect you're screwed. If it was an auto loan, and you co-signed for it, then I would assume that you have rights to the car. If she doesn't make the loan payments, then you have the right to sell the car and pay off the loan.

If it's an unsecured loan, and you're really worried about it, ask her if she can get a new loan to pay off the current one. Maybe she can get a new cosigner, etc. Once the old loan is paid off, then you won't have to worry about it.

If she can't (or won't) do that, then you're probably stuck. You co-signed the loan, so you are just as responsible for it as she is. Hopefully, she won't do anything stupid. It would hurt her credit just as badly as yours if she decided to just stop making payments. However, she has more to gain by continuing to make payments, since it will actually improve her credit score if she stays current.

magician

Why would you assume that?

Cosigning for a loan - secured or unsecured - simply means that the cosigner agrees to ensure that the payments are made. There is no requirement for a secured loan that the cosigner have an ownership interest in the collateral. Indeed, I'm sure that it's rare that a cosigner has an ownership interest in the collateral.

trainwreck

you cannot get out of your contract with the bank. but i think you have grounds for a civil suit. you can sue for fraud in the inducement, if she misrepresented that her car was paid off. but, in order to collect any money, i believe actual damages must be incurred.

ur best bet is to be nice and hope she pays it off.

DFWs2k

Are you sure? I thought the way mxt described was the way it worked

magician

Yes.

Then both of you were mistaken. A cosigner to a secured loan does not need to have an ownership interest in the collateral for the loan.

DFWs2k

cool, always nice to learn new things

i guess there'd have to be an additional stipulation in the paperwork (or in another contract) to make what we thought true

aero3685

It is an unsecured loan.. Nothing is bad right now, and I wasnt asking the question so I could put it in her face that if she didnt pay I would sue her or something.

I was just wondering that if in the event that she decided to stop paying... would I have anything to go on.

My plans are and have been to just keep in good standing and hope and pray that she will make the payments, while also keeping a little extra in savings just incase the rainy day does come and I have to start paying.