Cosigner repossession

[Anonymous]

Two years ago I made a horrible decision and I cosigned for my cousins auto loan. Now, he hasn't made a payment for 3 months and is on the verge of repossession. My question is, if the car is repossessed and the remainder after the repo sale is paid in full, what are my chances of getting this removed from my credit report? Any help appreciated

[StartingOver10]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Two years ago I made a horrible decision and I cosigned for my cousins auto loan. Now, he hasn't made a payment for 3 months and is on the verge of repossession. My question is, if the car is repossessed and the remainder after the repo sale is paid in full, what are my chances of getting this removed from my credit report? Any help appreciated

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Well, you are the co-signer on your cousins' auto loan. It will be up to you to pay it. The lender can come after you for payment and the deficiency balance and take you to court for a judgment. I would say that getting a repo removed from your report is not possible. It is the whole reason why vehicle lenders require co-signers, so they have multiple people to persue in case of non-payment.

Since you know your cousin is in line for a repo, why don't you get the payment current with the lender now, before repo. Then sit down with your cousin and work out an arrangement. Sell the vehicle or get your cousin to get it refi'ed (not likely). In any event, stop the repo before it happens. It is far easier to explain a 90 day late as a co-signer than a repo. Protect your credit.

[Anonymous]

Well, I would pay it if I could afford it. His car payment is 400 a month and I do not have an xtra 400. I am listed on the loan as a housewife with 0 income (don't know if that means anything). But my question was if car was repossessed and the remaining balance after the bank sells the car is paid as agreed, do you think they would remove this from my credit report then since I am a cosigner that they approved with 0 income.?

[09Lexie]

How you applied with 0 income, unfortunately is irrelevant. The lender, may at its discretion remove the TL if they accept your GW letter but it is doubtful. If you are unable to cover the full payments, I would suggest contacting the lender, plead your case and work out a reduced pyt schedule in lieu of repossession. I'm sure the derogs are already reporting on your cr or will soon be- the sooner you get ahead of this,the better for you.

[StartingOver10]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Well, I would pay it if I could afford it. His car payment is 400 a month and I do not have an xtra 400. I am listed on the loan as a housewife with 0 income (don't know if that means anything). But my question was if car was repossessed and the remaining balance after the bank sells the car is paid as agreed, do you think they would remove this from my credit report then since I am a cosigner that they approved with 0 income.?

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^^Do you mean that you are going to pay the deficiency and then GW the tradeline?

It's possible, but very unlikely that they would remove it even if its paid. If not paid, it will most likely become a judgment against both you and your cousin. Look up 'jointly and severally' in the finance agreement. That means they can come after you or your cousin or both for payment.

[Kratos-TM]

Only thing to do now is to give your cousin a good earful. That's the only positive you're getting out of this one.

[jackg]

I have a lot of empathy for your situation, I did the same thing for my son just over 5 years ago & during the course of the loan he inccured two 30 day lates that now show on my credit report & two months ago he finished paying it off. Here's are some things I learned:

The car was financed through ALLY and every time he failed to pay within 20 days of the due date I would get a letter saying I had to make the payment and the $20 late fee & this happened a LOT. I learned that he could make the monthly payments but if he was late it was up to me to pay. Unfortunately I didn't get this point until after the two 30 day lates & so from then on I had to check every month to see if he paid & then pay it if he hadn't.

Since the account is now closed/PIF I have written a good will letter to ALLY asking them to delete the entire trade line from my history or do whatever they can to turn the account from a negative standing on my CR's to a "in good standing" account. I just mailed the letter today so it will be awhile before I hear anything if they even respond at all. I didn't use the "dispute" process because I didn't want to appear too aggressive toward them. He was late after all & my only hope is that since I have financed all my cars with them for the past 37 years they will see me as a valued customer. I also mentioned that I'll be buying another new car next spring. I live in Michigan and the winters are nasty here so the only time of year I buy a new car is in the spring so I can enjoy the "newness" as long as possible.

My recommendation to you is to call the financier and explain what's going on & that you want to work with them to bring the payments current. The best way to do that is ask them to add the late payments to the back end of the loan & then take over the payments from then on. Make him pay you.

Also, I don't know how your financier deals with the title to this car but ALLY sent me the title to my sons car and the title for the car you co-signed the loan for should also be in your name. This is the leverage you have to make him pay because you legally own the car.

Good Luck

[bahbahd]

OP, like the poster above, I would check to see who's name the title is in and try to sell the car ASAP. Cousin may be pissy, but they are gonna loose the car anyway.

Poster above, I hope you have a shoebox full of all those letters and processed checks from each of those payments you made. I'd be wrapping that up in real pretty Christmas paper and leaving that as my kids only present under the tree.