My father cosigned on a car with me in 2004, I had the credit score he had the credit history, I got pregnant, went on maternity leave in October, lost my job, Got 5 job offers in December, father took the car and didn't give it back. In November I paid $790 for a tune up so the car was like brand new. Father made me drive a car that had bad tags and plates a cop saw me driving it and threatened to give me a ticket, mind you, my car was still working and my father had a brand new truck sitting in the driveway while he drove my car down, Long story short, parents told me they wouldn't give me my car back because they were paying on it, car got repoed- found out he called the company and told them not to send me any paper bills. Car got auctioned, stuck with a $3800 bill, step dad says he's not paying a cent! Should I sue for half because he's cosigner or whole thing, because I didn't know they weren't paying.
2007-12-10T22:55:35Z
He was on the contract with me for GMAC, so legally the car is both of ours
Beau2007-12-10T22:49:12Z
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You can't sue - you were responsible to pay, not your dad. He was only responsible if you stopped paying, which you say you did. You'll lose, sorry!
The bank holds the title of the car, until it is paid off. But whose name was the car registered under? Your father had no right to take the car from you just because he cosigned. Cosigning does not imply ownership. Rather he is simply guaranteeing that the creditor gets paid if the primary borrower defaults.
Remember that you signed your name too. So that means that you should have paid for the car. So you should have gone over there, taken the keys to YOUR car, AND continued to make your payments (like you said you were going to do in the first place). Neither of you have lived up to your word, regardless of circumstances.
If you sue anyone, you have to demonstrate actual damages. You can try to say that your damages are $3800 because he took posession of the car and also called your creditors (which he had no right to do). So you can argue that you were under the assumption that he was making payments because he took it. You can argue that he manipulated the situation and left you uninformed, and upon reposession, you were left with no options.
Now you need to be honest with yourself here too. Would you have paid for the car if you had gotten it back? If not, then you should take the hit, not your dad.
I would also dispute the $3800 with Equifax, Experian, and Transunion. Simply write them and say ONLY, "I dispute the amount of this charge; it is incorrect." Then they have to PROVE how they arrived at that figure. You do this every month and it remains on your credit report as "in dispute." Eventually, they may settle the amount with you. If you care about your credit then figure out a payment plan. Hopefully, you have learned how important credit is. You need it to buy things like cars.
But it sounds to me that trying to sue your father will be like trying to squeeze blood out of a turnip (even if you do win a suit). Now, you should just take your hit and try to mend your credit.
I would have the whole matter investigated by a detective. If what you say about your dad calling the creditor is true, that is a criminal act. Until then, I'd let step dad screw up his credit score, since he is responsible for the bill also. It is not clear exactly what you can sue for, perhaps breach of contract. But you will have to demonstrate actual losses.
you can win this case and get a wealthy amount of money to accompany your troubles. why? father agreed to a written contract on behalf that you were investing in the car 50/50. meaning a co signee. thus making the decision on his part not to allow you to decision making in the history or actions of the car. just playing i made that stuff up. lol but to make things simple, you bought a car, you couldnt pay it. it got reposesed.