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Back story and its a long one!

I live in NH and my sister lives in MA.

My sister bought a car with my dad as cosigner but he passed away not long after. Because of this my sister needed a new cosigner on the vehicle. I eventually agreed to one year with her stating after one year she would refinance it in her name. Due to my credit score being higher than hers they had me be listed as primary owner.

The first year wasn't bad as she kept up with her payments. The second year was when COVID hit and her payments went down hill. At one point it was reposed after 4 missed payments but she was able to get it back -all this without my knowing! Since then she has been consistently behind for 2 months in payments and never trying to catch up. Of course it goes without saying how that would affect one's credit report.

Anyway she has now totaled the car. She hit a parked vehicle in MA as that's where she drove it daily. On top of it all the car was uninsured.

At first I was on the insurance with her with my own vehicle and would have to pay both our insurances in order to keep my insurance in good standing. Eventually I did not have a car anymore so I was not going to keep up with the insurance payments for the vehicle she drives. Surprise surprise she did not keep up with the insurance payments and eventually they canceled my policy and I can never obtain an insurance policy through them again. It gets worse.. She eventually got another insurance through my name that I was unaware of until she also stopped paying and eventually landed on my credit report. I did make her pay that and had it removed from my credit.

Now that she doesn't have the car anymore though she's getting so behind that Im getting 60+ day late payments marked on my credit report. I don't know what my options are if any and what factors affect what, especially with it crossing from NH to MA.

And she doesn't really give me any answers when I try to reach out. I ask her what her plan in regards to the car being in the tow yard and the car payments and all I get is excuses or she blames the finance company.

Also as far I know the car is still at the tow yard from the accident that occured in August. I have never once spoke to the finance company Exeter Finance because I don't want to risk something backfiring on me especially with a company like theirs. She also changed the main address to hers in MA so any mail sent goes to her. I did try to change it back on the finance company website but it still goes to her so I don't receive anything.

I really don't know what to do.

My questions I guess are:

Is there any way for me to get my name away from the loan? And if not, do I have any options at all regarding anything?

Thank you in advance for any helpful advice!

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  • which state was the car registered in? Did it meet the required liability coverage minimums?
    – mhoran_psprep
    Nov 14 at 21:58
  • Registered in NH. And no it did not.
    – Amanda
    Nov 15 at 22:11

2 Answers 2

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Is there any way for me to get my name away from the loan? And if not, do I have any options at all regarding anything?

Pay off the car and sue your sister for the money.

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State/Local laws may be different in the details but here are the general principles:

Ownership (name on the title) and responsibility for paying the loan are not always the same. If you co-signed for the loan you are also 100% responsible for paying the loan. If she missed any payments you are just as liable and are just as much at risk for credit report hits, late fees, etc. You can't get off of the loan without her refinancing it, and you can't get her off of the title without her relinquishing her ownership.

Your option at this point is pretty much to pay off the loan. If they "repossess" the car, you will be liable for the remaining balance after they sell the car, which is sounds like will just be for scrap at this point. If you had insurance at the time of the accident you could try to file a claim with them, but it sounds like such a mess I'd be surprised if you were able to get a claim approved.

The lesson here is to never, ever cosign for any loan. If you want to help financially, you'll be better off giving them the money either in whole or in part, and letting them finance the rest in their own name, and working out with them how much to pay back to you, if any.

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  • My name is on the title so I do hold primary ownership. She's told me she isn't able to refinance due to her credit score. In regards to the insurance I was a little thankful because it wasn't going to hit my insurance record which would've cost me in the long run just as well. Although she should've got her own policy with the car under it instead of making a policy in my name like she was doing before. I think cosigner would've honestly hurt less at this point. But yes overall I learned my lesson. It is never a good idea to cosign in any sort of way! Thank you again!
    – Amanda
    Nov 14 at 17:42
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    Well getting money for a claim and paying higher premiums might have been better that having to pay off the whole loan, but it doesn't seem like that's an option. And my point on ownership was that it doesn't matter when looking at the loan - you are a cosigner on the loan and just as responsible (there's no difference between primary and cosigner - both are 100% responsible for the debt). If there's any value left in the car you can sell it to help pay off the loan.
    – D Stanley
    Nov 14 at 17:48
  • I agree with it being insured completely. Originally I kept up with the insurance on the car when she didn't pay as well as my own car's payments. I couldn't keep doing that. The insurance she got after that was in my name without my knowledge and that ended up on my credit report which I did fix. I do believe the car should've been insured under her own policy. My biggest mistake was never taking the keys and just taking control. A little too late now obviously. The car is still in the tow yard so there is absolutely no value in it at this point unfortunately. Up the creek without a puddle.
    – Amanda
    Nov 14 at 18:23
  • Or a poodle. Yeah, you sorta painted yourself into a corner.
    – keshlam
    Nov 14 at 22:27

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