Moderators advise please

[Anonymous]

A naive friend secured a joint loan for her then fiance to purchase a truck.  Two months later, he left her, but took the truck.  That was Sept. 08.  For several months, he kept up with the payments, then slowly she started receiving collection calls.  She would then hound him to get the payment made.  Finally in April of 2009, he defaulted to the point that they repossessed the truck.

It is being reported by the OC, but she is getting calls from their CA.  She sent the OC a letter, explaining the situation, and offering to pay 50% of the balance due in exchange for a delete from her reports - DENIED.

Now, the CA is still calling - they haven't reported yet, but I'm sure it's coming.  Any advise on what she could/should do?  Other than this account, she has sterling credit (before this purchase and since their seperation).

[Anonymous]

BUMP

[BungalowMo]

Well, she has a mess on her hands.  Unfortunately.  Are they trying to collect the full balance?  Did they sell the veh at auction & suing for the remainder??

Does the OC still have a balance due posted??  She needs to see if she has any legal right to sue him for this $$.  She may or may not be able to get this removed from her report,

I know this does not help her situation, but for anyone out there thinking about doing this for someone other than a spouse....think HARD before you do it.  My brother co-signed a few times for me in the past, and I'd never dream of screwing him over like this.  But someone you're dating, living with, engaged to... there is really no hard & fast law that says they have to pay a dime.  Whether you are the co-signer...or worse, the primary on the loan. You are putting your own credit at risk.  And there is a reason they could not get the financing on their own.

If this is, in fact, a JOINT loan...she CAN sue for half.  Don't expect the entire balance.

Message Edited by BungalowMo on 10-21-2009 01:06 PM

[Anonymous]

Mo -

This was truely a joint account.  The $8,000 balance is after the vehicle was sold at auction.  The OC is the only one reporting right now, but she's getting calls from what I believe to be the in-house CA. 

She has $4K in savings and asked the OC for a PFD (on her report only), but of course they said no.  How should she proceed?  Should she as for the same deal w/the CA?  That may keep them from reporting, but it will still show as a repo from the OC.  Is she really accomplishing anything by paying the CA?

IMO, I would wait until they sued.  We live in a smallish town, and her EX is no stranger to the local courts.  Perhaps, if she presented her case to the judge, he would be inclined to encourage the OC to accept her offer?

IDK, but any advise on how she should proceed with the $4K would be greatly appreciated.

[llecs]

If I made a suggetion I would tell her to keep trying with the PFDs, for a limited time (by all means, offer more). After a couple of months and after communicating with the OC, I would pay the full balance w/out the PFD to avoid additional interest, to avoid having a judgment report, and avoid having a CA report. In all liklihood, the CA won't report and the OC would continue to assign various CAs to try to collect. I don't know what she signed, but she's probably on the hook for the full balance and would likely lose if it goes to court. If the judge saw it her way and pressed the OC for a settlement, she'd still have a judgment.

On the legal side, maybe she could pursue the ex for 1/2 of the balance owed. She may have to pay the OC first, though.