Need Answers Fast!!!

[lhopp77]

Like I said--the parent situation complicates things particularly if she still lives at home. IF she does not live at home AND she is 18 AND still making all payments on time, I would ignore the "co-owner" and make her spend the money on a lawyer. I doubt that any judge would take the vehicle away from her if she has met all the conditions above. If she still lives at home---totally different issues.

Lee

[subi-crosser]

Originally Posted by JLHollowX13

subi-crosser, we went to the bank to try and get the co signer off, but they will not take them off, payments have been made for 10 months, paid up until october as of now. no late payments, always on time or way ahead of the due date.

not sure what is on the title, as this isnt my deal. its a whole big mess that im just trying to help with. i think it says the primary person, the one that actually uses the car and pays for it, then i think it says something like c/o name of co signer. im guessing that means co-owner. if so, can you get that person's name taken off the title? do they have to agree to it? i know if they are a co-owner then they have say, but as i understand it, the only thing a co signer is for is saying that the person who has no credit, watever, is good for the money.

this wouldnt be a big deal, except the co signer is trying to keep the truck. they keep telling the owner that if they dont pay it off before college they are keeping it (college starts NEXT month, a balance of about 2600 is still owed from an original balance of about 4k). the loan was started january of this year, so it hasnt been very long. it is nearly impossible to pay off the debt of 2600 in one month working a minimum wage job, especially with the cost of gas, insurance, maintanance, etc. does a co signer have legal authority to keep the truck? if they are in fact the co owner can they do this? i dont think its right if they are the co owner, since they have not paid a cent towards it. the co signer cant even afford the truck payment, and it seems to me like the co signer is trying to make the actual owner pay for the truck, but they want to keep it. im just trying to figure out the legal aspects of this because neither i, nor the owner know and they want to have full ownership over the vehicle, whether they need to get the co signer off the title or they have it now and just dont know it.

The co-owner hs no rights UNLESS the payments are late! Then the co-owner has the right to ANSWER THE PHONE AND EITHER MAKE THE PAYMENT OR CUSS OUT THE GUY THAT WAS SUPPOSED to make the payment. As long as the payments are forthcomming, there is no problem that the courts are concerned with.
Are there circumstances that you are not adding to the mix???

[JLHollowX13]

no other circumstances that i am aware of, and im pretty deep into the situation. the mother does want out of the whole thing because she doesnt think her daughter will keep paying on the loan when she moves off for college next month. but the daughter is 4 months ahead right now, and still paying on it. what the mother doesnt realize is that what she is doing is making her daughter not want to pay for a vehicle she cant even have. the mother is threatening to keep the truck unless it is paid for before college because she is afraid it wont get paid, but there have been no late payments or missed payments, so she has no reason to be afraid that it wont be paid. she is making a horrible situation out of something that shouldnt even matter. i think she knows she cant afford the payments also, and she is threatening to take the truck back to the bank (its sitting at the mothers house now). but this is an empty threat, for one, the bank will not take it back because of the payments being made and they dont want the truck, and another, it will ruin both thier credits if she defaults because her mom makes her. also, her mom doesnt have any authority to do that, whether she is a co owner or not, she cannot do anything unless she has the consent of her daughter.

i think she thought her daughter would have it paid off before college started, which is what the daughter wanted to do. but working at a minimum wage job, that is nearly impossible with the included cost of gas, insurance (full coverage of course) and the cost of normal maintanance like oil changes, new parts if need be, etc. during school, from january to may, the max amount of hours able to work would just be weekends, so 8 days out of the month. that would cover insurance and gas and the monthly payment on minimum wage and not a whole lot more, so that is only 4 to 5 payments, then when summer got here more hours where available to work. if she is lucky enough to even get all 40 hours per week at $7 an hour (thats being generous since taxes are taken out) she will be making around $1k a month, with about 3 months to work (less because she took a vacation to see her dad in another state for a couple weeks) then that comes to $3k that she could make in 3 months (again being generous). with the cost of insurance, about $170 a month, that knocks off some cash, then figure in the gas, and general maintanance of the car, that $3k could be down to $2500 or less. with a loan (including interest) in the $4k range, there would be no way to pay it off that quickly, unless she had the months between january and may to work full time. you also have to factor in the fact that she is paying out things for college already, like a housing deposit, books, etc. then you also have to know that her mom makes her buy groceries more than the mom does, and does NOT pay her back. that stuff adds up FAST.

you can do the math and see. but this is the story and all this lead up to her mom trying to take possession of the vehicle. also her mom is threatening to take her off of her insurance which, according to her insurance agent, would make her premium go up to $270 a month. its funny though because the agent left her a message saying "you better smile when you write your mom that check every month", but it doesnt have to do with her not wanting to pay, her mom twists the story and makes it seem like she is removing her daughter because she wont pay her insurance. the mom is trying to do everything she can to make her pay it off before college, which is nearly impossible, yet she makes her spend more money! i dont think the mom has any idea. luckily the daughter found 2 insurance companies that will insure full coverage for around her payment now, and one is cheaper. one is 170 something a month, the other is 120 something a month, both by herself.

does anyone else think this whole thing is a little screwed up?

[lhopp77]

You did not answer the question about where she lives. From what you are saying, it sounds like she is living at home--does she pay any home expenses? Parents insurance with underage children on them is significantly higher that without. IF the mom is the "co-owner" I can understand some of the concern. An teenager driving a co-owned car/truck is a serious liability. IF the daughter was to drive drunk in a co-owned car/truck--the mom is more likely to be sued than the daughter--probably has more assets. It sounds like to me that the mom wants the vehicle paid for so she can get her name off it and off her insurance--thereby greatly reducing HER personal liability.

I bought all my children's first cars (nice, but used ones), but they had to buy insurance in their names. The cars were titled in the children's names.

Sometimes young people don't realize the burden of liability that they can put on parents.

At first I was sympathetic with your friend, but now maybe I understand more of the problem.

Lee

[JLHollowX13]

she no longer lives at home as of about a week or so ago (moved out because of her mom of course). she found 2 insurance companies that will insure her alone without her mom that she may go with because one is cheaper by about $40 than what she pays now, the other is around the same price, and that IS by herself.

when she did live at home, she did pay expenses, probably more than her mom because her mom doesnt have a job like i said. i found out she hasnt had one since she was in her late 20's to early 30's, she is now in her 50's. and she isnt well off either by any means. anyway, she did pay expenses, im not sure what kind of expenses you are asking about, but she did buy all the groceries, take care of the horse they used to have and the dog they have (buying food for them, vet bills, etc.). i do know however, that when she was added to her moms insurance that her mom's premium did not go up, neither did my parents' premium when i was added. it would of course go up if the parents paid the insurance, but that is not the case. insurance is paid by her. her mom still pays the $70 whatever she has always paid for liability for her own truck.

i have always thought that insurance is what protects you from being sued. you get in a wreck and they sue your insurance company. i guess if you are drunk or something like that it could be different, but that would not be the case here. is that how it works though? as long as the accident is totally legal (ie no driving drunk, etc) then you are protected by your insurance company?

if she does get off her mom's insurance and get her own, will that reduce or eliminate the mothers liability? she is going to the bank tomorrow to see if she can get her mom taken off the title since she is now of legal age to own a vehicle. by getting her own seperate insurance, and taking her mom off the title, that will eliminate ANY liability her mom has whatsoever, right? then the only thing her mom would be tied to is the loan, which would have nothing to do with owning the vehicle if she is strictly the co-signer, no one will ever know her mom is the co-signer because that is between the bank and her. and if she gets in an accident they will look at the owner(s) of the vehicle, not anything else. am i correct in this?

[NapaBavarian]

mama is messed up in the head! I grew up with that same attitude, when I was in her position I would just drop out of college and find somewhere else to live

[RSVX]

Update?

Inquiring minds want to know.