My cosigner mistakingly signed as the buyer

Question

Me and my fiancee went car shopping. She found something she liked, suitable for her, but we needed a cosigner. We tried everyone to no avail until we were able to reach my cousin who agreed to cosign.

The dealer met with my cousin while he was on his lunch break and had him sign. Since my cousin was on his break, he just signed where the dealer told him to, which was as the buyer. They fired the dealer for reasons unknown.

We have been paying on it for 2 years and my cousin has been hassling about getting his name dropped from the car. We tried to trade it in since we are the physical owners, and were making the notes, but we can't. My cousin told me he doesn't want anything to do with the car. Any suggestions on what we can do will be appreciated.

Answer 1

Everybody on the car title will need to participate in the selling process. The person who is buying the car will need everybody to sign the paperwork so that nobody months later tries to say they never agreed to sell the car.

The money will have to be sent to the lender to pay off the rest of the loan. If the money isn't enough to pay off the loan everybody will have to decide how the extra money will be sent to the lender. This will have to be done as part of the selling process because the lender doesn't want you to sell the car and keep the cash. Once the car is gone so is the collateral and they can't take it back if you miss payments.

If the cousin is too far away to participate in the selling of the car, you may need the buyer and the lender to tell you how to proceeded. If you are selling at a dealership they will know what documents and signatures will be needed, the bank will also know what to do.

If the loan is almost paid off it may be easier to pay the loan first, and then get the title without the lenders name before trying to sell it.