After Divorce

[lovinmymoney]

Okay background... I was divorced in 2000. My ex took responsibility for a card from Bank of America (that I opened as a joint account w/ ex in 1998). At the time of divorce I was not up on the credit thing and didn't remove my name. Account is now paid off and closed but shows up on my report with several 30, 60, 90 day lates from 2002-2004. I requested paper work from B of A that we need to both sign stating that he has retroactive responsibility of account. I saw him today for the first time in 2 years and he refused to sign because he does not want the lates on his report. (He doesn't think they are on his report currently although he has not looked at it.) Question... I cannot get a clear answer from B of A. I am wondering if, once the account(and lates) are removed from my report will they be reported on his credit report? The account was opened in 1998, closed in 4/2007, and lates 2002-2004. Does anyone have any experience w/ this kind of thing? I totally appreciate any insight, thoughts, feedback you are willing to offer. (No funny remarks about the ridiculousness of not taking my name off in the 1st place:-)

[Anonymous]

If the account was joint and they are reporting on yours, unless there was some glitch, they are already on his reports.

If you mean, will they report the lates a 2nd time on his to make it show more lates then it is, no, they can't do that.

I am almost 100% they are already there.

[Junejer]

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@lovinmymoney wrote:
Okay background... I was divorced in 2000. My ex took responsibility for a card from Bank of America (that I opened as a joint account w/ ex in 1998). At the time of divorce I was not up on the credit thing and didn't remove my name. Account is now paid off and closed but shows up on my report with several 30, 60, 90 day lates from 2002-2004. I requested paper work from B of A that we need to both sign stating that he has retroactive responsibility of account. I saw him today for the first time in 2 years and he refused to sign because he does not want the lates on his report. (He doesn't think they are on his report currently although he has not looked at it.) Question... I cannot get a clear answer from B of A. I am wondering if, once the account(and lates) are removed from my report will they be reported on his credit report? The account was opened in 1998, closed in 4/2007, and lates 2002-2004. Does anyone have any experience w/ this kind of thing? I totally appreciate any insight, thoughts, feedback you are willing to offer. (No funny remarks about the ridiculousness of not taking my name off in the 1st place:-)

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Why does your ex think that they are not on his report? Was it a "joint" account or was he an authorized user on the account?

A little encouragement--I went through a divorce back around the same time and I had BoA car lease in my name only, but my ex was awarded the vehicle and responsibility for it. Well, as you can imagine, when she was upset with me--30, 60, 90 days past due. Well, they kept calling me, b/c I was responsible for the payment, as it was in my name. I used that as leverage. When she would go past due, I would act as collection agent for them (to include paying the bill and collecting from her later--never did get all of my money). Anyway, they were so pleased with how it was handled that I asked them, in writing of course, to remove the lates and they did, within a month of the lease contract being up. I had a very good experience with BoA from that standpoint.

[lovinmymoney]

The account it listed as joint w/ him. I am listed as the one that opened the account-strange. He will absolutely not sign ppwrk releasing my name from the account, now he is telling me that he never took responsibility for this card after the divorce. I will need to do more investigating to get proof he was the one paying this bill. In the meantime I have worked on the 5 baddies - disputed one, paid one, in the process of getting Wells Fargo to correct one that was actually a fraud/stolen card and a year from having one removed...that leaves this one with my ex-husband. With the way my score has increased over the last year I know I am in much better shape than I could have hoped for after a financially challenging divorce. I am still trying to figure out the credit score thing-thank goodness for this website! It is changing my life. 5/20/08: Tran 763/EQ 673 /EX ? 6/6/07: Tran ??/EQ 524/ EX 554

[Junejer]

Nice FICO increase lovin'. Keep pushing forward.

[Anonymous]

Just curious ... do you have a court order that defines this in your decree? Were these charges made AFTER your divorce?

This sounds more like a LEGAL issue than a credit issue (though it's affecting your credit, obviously!!). Go to www.freeadvice.com and they can help you with the legal remedies you have!!!

GL!!!!

[BungalowMo]

There should be something in writing in your divorce documents stating that that acct had gone to him.  It's not rocket science that you're not the one making payments.  If you can fax a copy (or mail it) to BofA & let them know that you were legally absolved of this debt on such&suchadate and you would like them to remove that reference on your CR as this was no longer legally your debt!

That's what I'd do anyway.  You shouldn't need his signature...the judges bottom line should be all the legal proof you need. 

[Junejer]

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@BungalowMo wrote:

There should be something in writing in your divorce documents stating that that acct had gone to him.  It's not rocket science that you're not the one making payments.  If you can fax a copy (or mail it) to BofA & let them know that you were legally absolved of this debt on such&suchadate and you would like them to remove that reference on your CR as this was no longer legally your debt!

That's what I'd do anyway.  You shouldn't need his signature...the judges bottom line should be all the legal proof you need. 

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It's a nice thought, but it's not going to hold up. The court can say one thing, but that doesn't legally absolve lovinmymoney from being the responsible party on a loan. Trust me, I went through that one personally.

[BungalowMo]

  wow...that sux.  Sorry

[Anonymous]

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BungalowMo wrote:

There should be something in writing in your divorce documents stating that that acct had gone to him.  It's not rocket science that you're not the one making payments.  If you can fax a copy (or mail it) to BofA & let them know that you were legally absolved of this debt on such&suchadate and you would like them to remove that reference on your CR as this was no longer legally your debt!

That's what I'd do anyway.  You shouldn't need his signature...the judges bottom line should be all the legal proof you need. 

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Sorry, but it doesn't work that way.  B of A doesn't care what's in the divorce settlement.  It's a legal agreement between the ex-spouses, but  B of A was not a party to it and didn't agree to it.  B of A has no obligation to remove a party from a joint debt.

It's easier if you look at it this way:  say Spouse A wanted a car loan, couldn't qualify, so Spouse B agreed to co-sign.  They later divorce and agree that Spouse A takes over the loan.  But the bank never would have given the loan to Spouse A alone.  So unless the bank thinks that Spouse A's credit has improved since they took the loan, Spouse B (who has always had joint responsibility) can't just be removed.

The legal decree simply gives Spouse B the right to sue Spouse A if Spouse A doesn't do what he/she is supposed to do.  However, that's cold comfort it Spouse B doesn't  have the money to sue and Spouse A doesn't have the money to pay if he/she loses.

Hope this clarifies.  It's an ugly situation that plays out far too often.