@Anonymous wrote:My wife co-signed for her friend to get a new vehicle a couple of years ago. Since then the friend has made on time payments with only one exception, but was able to communicate with my wife and the lender. No big deal. NOW.. The car is in quick decline due to the folks who drive it. Therefore it is worth about $8,000 less than the current loan balance.
Friend cant get financed with a different co-signer for a different vehicle. Friend can get refinanced for this vehicle. Does anyone know of anything we may be able to do to show our lack of continued financial responsibility and they have diligently been the sole owner of the debt and car?
Yes.. I know.. My wife knew the risks. Ultimately I understand she is financially liable for any shortcomings. I just am seeking a glimmer of hope to get out from under this teetering catastrophe.
pray they don't miss payments and be prepared to start paying if they don't, otherwise her credit will be shot and she is liable for the debt.
you can try to get them to refinance you out of the loan but that would require them having good enough credit to do so and they'll probably have to pay down the loan enough to not be underwater and they have 0 incentive to do so other than to 'be a friend'
based on the fact that they are trying to buy yet ANOTHER car with a DIFFERENT co-signer, this seems like a not very financally savy individual.
you might very well be eating this in the coming future, I would start preparing for that financially
"I'm trying to buy a house and I need to be removed from this car loan... can you please, as a friend, refinance this car without me as a co-signer?" sort of conversation from your wife to the friend
any solution will have to be a social one where the friend acts kindly and helps you out because she's your wife's friend as opposed to dodging any legal responsibility for the debt
what does the 'friend's' credit look like?
@GZG wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:My wife co-signed for her friend to get a new vehicle a couple of years ago. Since then the friend has made on time payments with only one exception, but was able to communicate with my wife and the lender. No big deal. NOW.. The car is in quick decline due to the folks who drive it. Therefore it is worth about $8,000 less than the current loan balance.
Friend cant get financed with a different co-signer for a different vehicle. Friend can get refinanced for this vehicle. Does anyone know of anything we may be able to do to show our lack of continued financial responsibility and they have diligently been the sole owner of the debt and car?
Yes.. I know.. My wife knew the risks. Ultimately I understand she is financially liable for any shortcomings. I just am seeking a glimmer of hope to get out from under this teetering catastrophe.
pray they don't miss payments and be prepared to start paying if they don't, otherwise her credit will be shot and she is liable for the debt.
Both parties could face credit consequences if the loan has baddies. Almost like a AU credit account.
https://www.bankrate.com/loans/auto-loans/establish-credit-by-co-signing-a-car-loan/
It's extremely unlikely that the bank will let her off the loan for obvious reasons. Why should they release liability for someone when they can go after two parties if the loan defaults rather than one? When you co-sign, as you know, you should be prepared to make the payments. That's the only solution to this issue is to make payments should the driver stop and consider it a hard lesson learned.
I'm about to show my age on this but here goes:
When I was a little girl, my dad taught and coached at a tiny little college. There were times when his former athletes needed a co-signer for a car loan. Now, back in the day, to co-sign and be a coach was NOT against the NCAA rules. Anyway, there were many times when my mom and dad were left paying off the car loans. My mom used to beg him not to fall for the sob story. (Many of his athletes were from impoverished families and many times they were the first in their family to attend college.) Grant you, these were the days when new cars were well under $10,000 and car payments were under $100 a month. But, salaries were small too and we were a family of 5. Small colleges didn't pay the big salaries for teachers and coaches so we lived on campus in houses that were specifically for faculty.
I learned at an extremely early age NOT to co-sign for anyone family, friend of foe. That being said, this little story doesn't help you. What can help you is to get your $$$ in order and find out what the monthly payments are and be ready to assume the loan. I would get in touch with the lienholder of the car loan and have them communicate with you around the payments. You deserve NOT to be left in the dark. Be ready to step in before the payments are 30 days late.
Good Luck!! I'm rooting for you and your kind-hearted wife. The adage is true, "No good deeds goes unpunished."
