co signer for student loan being taken advantage of

As the cosignor of a private student loan, you have the same legal responsiblity as the borrower or your daughter. If they cannot reach your daughter or she does not pay,they will come after you. Make sure that you give them all the info on how to reach her. However, if she does not pay, they will persue you. Do not allow these loans to default.....they will sue you. Plus there is not bankrupty on these loans.

Thanks soaplady,

I realize as a co-signer legally, I am the secondary person and fully responsible, I guess I was hoping there was more I could do, because if the pimary just decides to walk away, its a free ride for them, maybe they should share the burden, why is it not so?
Any secondary actions I can take to pursue the primary?

Have you provided Sallie Mae with all her contact information including her employer?

You need to make it clear to your daughter that BOTH of you will be sued if this defaults.

Soap lady,
Yes,
I have tried to provide contact info, however she does not have much contact capability. My daughters no longer has a cell phone, she lives three states away, and only has an apt address. Her email no longer repsonds as far as I can tell.

Default, Part of me thinks it is only fair that she gets sued, as well as me. The isssue I am wrestling with , is letting her skate fre, by paying the tab, for fear of going thru the default process with Sallie MAe.
If I could let her take the default, so that she feels the pain of the decision, and then I could move on to figure how to fit this into the monthly expenses.
Any futher thoughts?

Unfortunately, you will end up bearing the brunt of the default. It they cannot reach her and the account is not paid upon, yes they will pursue both of you. However you probably have the more visible assets....a job with wages that can be garnished and a home that will end up with a lien on your home.

So does it have to go that way? I mean , It doesn;'t seem fair she skates away free while I bear the burden of her loan for the the next 6 years.
She wil be working soon, I expect, can;t they garnish her wages too?
So, does it come down to simply rolling over with no options.
Any other suggestions or people I should consult with?

Read the prom note and your agreement. It is pretty clear and straightforward. They will pursue both of you if the payments are not made, so unfortunately the best option for you now is to make the payments to keep it from defaulting or ask for an economic hardship forbearance if available. The lender really dont care who the money ultimately comes from as long as it is paid. Do what you can do reach your daughter and let her know that a judgement and defaulted loans will mean to her credit and future.

I'm relatively certain that you personally could sue your daughter if you had to end up paying off the student loans.

I did question an attorney on that debt cruncher and he laughed. He said that you cannot sue another from something you legally agreed to do.

Well yes, they agreed to pay, but only on default. The co-x didn't receive any benefit from the resulting transaction. So why wouldn't their losses be recoverable against the person who did receive a benefit? Essentially I would see that as breech of contract between the primary and co-x.

But it was just a thought. If what you say is true, then that's one more reason I'll never co-sign for anyone.

Unfortunately there is no contract between primary and cosignor.

One could argue that a verbal contract exists between the two.... Only 4 elements need be present for a contract to exist: 1) Manifestation of mutual assent, 2) Consideration (benefit/detriment), 3) Legality of the subject matter, and 4) capacity --- all of which are inherently present.

I won't repeat what everyone said. Basically you can't sue if you signed this. You do owe this money just as much as she does. Sucks but true.

Instead of killing days while the payment is STILL due trying to figure out how to reach your daughter, I strongly suggest you call your lender directly and be the borrower and explore payment options.

You can make this easy on you WHILE you wait on some sort fo exit. Ask for an online account to view and manage your account, view interest, make payments etc. Tell them you're the one who's going to be making payments and need all the options the primary borrower has.

ASK ABOUT FORBEARANCE AND GRADUATED PAYMENTS.

My monthly payment is supposed to be $700 on my 4 student loans. I skipped an entire year with positive credit reporting because i requested forbearance. Then i got on a payment plan paying itnerest only. Now I make partial payments of $250 a month.

All the while my credit is just fine, my loan is in good standing, and I'm in CONSTANT CONTACT with my lender.

It's time to be aware of what they can do to hurt your credit score and personal well-being. Your assets, your home, your car. Be their friend, trust me.

As long as they see you are WILLING to fix this somehow, but just can't, against your will, they WILL work with you. They do all the time. Ultimately they want you to comfortably pay them their money. They don't want expensive and time consuminf lawsuits either - they're people too.

These are PRIVATE loans. Generally there is little to no deferment/forebarance priveleges and the lends do not have to work with you.

I am dealing with this now with a nephew - my husband decided to cosign a Sallie Mae loan and he has not paid in 2 months. Now I am getting a notice saying this will affect my credit now. Just perfect, we are preparing to sell our house and buy a new one. We don't have extra $100's of dollars a month for HIS loan and I also can't aford him ruining our credit so ew can't get another house. Anyone reading this - DO NOT - EVER - COSIGN FOR ANYONE. Not family, not friends, NOBODY.

DebtCruncher is correct. If a cosigner, surety, or guarantor pays a debt installment that the prinicpal obligor should have paid, she can sue the principal for reimbursement. (Your daughter is the prinicipal since she was the one receiving the benefit of the loan.) You have a limited number of years (depending on the applicable statute of limitations) in which to sue. Of course, even if you win, you might have problems collecting on the judgment until she gets a steady job or wins the lottery. If the debt is in the thousands of dollars, it would probably be worth paying an attorney $50-$100 for some advice on how to go about it.

If we (the co-signers) file bankruptcy will they take our names off of the student loan that my step son refuses to pay?

Nope.?? Student loans both federal and private are non dischargable in bankruptcy.?? So once your bankruptcy is discharged, the student loan loan becomes due again.?? BK can also cause a private loan to default if it hasnt already.

Glad I found this. Heres my question. My husband signed a parent plus loan for his daughter. She just informed us "she just has to much to pay for already", I know! He signed it in March of 2007 but they were not divorced until September 2007. Are both parents respondsible for the loan? Thank you

Only the parent who signed for the PLUS loan is legally responsible. Divorce does not take away the liability and the student has no liability either.

Thank you. My husband is waiting to hear from his lawyer-going for marital debt. Will see how that goes.

Federal loans dont care what a divorce decree says. Your husband will have to pay it. The courts might force her to contibute to paying it but the DOE will not pursue the other spouse.

This is what we have done. We have omitted her out of our family. She is not allowed at any of our family functions and her grandparents of my husband have writted her out of their will. She is not part of our family! Will it pay for the loan that she used? Nope. But its dishonest and disrespectful-we want nothing to do to her!

Wow....thought blood was thicker than money.

Not in this case. You just dont say "i dont want to pay for them anymore" and be done. Its disrespectful! My in-laws are actually thinking about willing her 30,000.00 and state that it must be given to my husband for repayment on the student loan. Then everyone wins. Shes not out of the will, and we get repaid for the loan.

I was under the impression you can discharge student loan in a bankruptcy if you can prove that paying them back would be an undue hardship on you.

You have to have a special hearing plus in most areas you have to pass the brunner test. They are not looking at hardship now but over the next 20 years of your life. Income increases, kids grow up....so very difficult to discharge/

Sadly, this is one of those cases where closeness is an issue. Not cosigning for anyone, ever,is a drastic move, as young adults and family with lower credit can have an almost impossible time getting loans to jump start their life. Ultimately, if you're cosigning for someone, there needs to be a lot of trust present. I'm sorry to hear that your daughter has cut off communication with you, and sorrier to hear that a hard working man like yourself is being forced to pay off loans. Your daughter really isn't getting how lucky she was to have a parent who would stick their neck out for her; most people don't get the chance to get large loans, especially in this economy, and working through school is the only option.

To ANYONE dealing with an issue with their borrower failing to make payments, your only option is to talk to them. Hopefully you already had a close relationship with them before agreeing to cosign a loan for them. Sadly, if that relationship has drifted, there's little you can do.

Hi dental0828,

I feel for you in your very difficult decision, it took much courage to make such a stand. Yes, blood is thick, but blood can stab you much deeper because they are close to you and sometimes you have to set boundaries for your own defense.

It's not only money, it's the principle of the matter. For someone to do that to their parents after they put their neck out like that is heartless, irresponsible, and dare I say hateful.

That is a great idea about the will. She will have to grow up and accept the responsibility she initiated and pay the loan like a adult, one way or another.

I'm sorry, though your daughter made a bad decision, and I agree, it is a very bad decision about debt. I don't agree with you writing her off. It's just an opinion. I made some mistakes in my past and I can't imagine my parents ever saying that they had written me off because of my bad judgement. But then again, my parents were very religious folks and I think that made a difference in how they handled the situation.

Haven't been on in awhile, sorry for the delay. I appreciate the words.
One other question, on the parent plus loan that my husband co-signed for, got some money back on a over-estimate for the semister. Who's money is it? My husband has to pay the loan back, 'cuz she doesnt want to pay anymore,' so we are wondering legally who does that money belong to. The checks were pay to the order of my husband.
Thank you

The loan is taking out FOR the student by the parent for educational purposes.

the cosigner is respondsible for the loan. so if a check was issued by the school for overpayment, your saying give it to the student? even though the student is no longer in school and NOT paying the loan back?

Well in that case, apply it to the loan.

WE DID, (since were stuck with the gosh darn thing). The problem is the daughter will not stop harrasin us. she says that money is hers and wants us to issue her a check for the amount.

plus loans are the last loans generally offered...and at a higher rate of interest. tell her to shove it

perfect. will do. rightfully not her money.

As a former financial aid officer, I would say yes.

yes...not her money? just clarifying

Of course its not her money. If she doesn't like it, she can pay the loan back herself like a responsible adult.

I agree. She will use the money irresponsibly and not apply towards the loan. I think she should not get a dime :?

I sure identify with this thread. My adopted daugher is trying to stick me with a $13,500 loan I cosigned in 2006. She managed to run up another $18,000 in Sallie Mae loans and she isn't paying them either. I've been paying the loan for 5 months to avoid all the problems of being default, excessively late etc.

Well, I am suing her. She didn't answer the initial court complaint so the process is now to get a default judgement then a wage attachment.

It is just unbelievable that someone can just not pay and not even talk to anyone about the debt. She won't talk to me and she is hiding from Sallie Mae. I don't know if I will be sucessful getting a wage attachment but I feel like I have to try and it is the right lesson to teach her. She would not take my adivice and started a $30,000 per year private school with no scholarships or any financing but loans. She is a drop out now and has about one year college credit to show for the $30k.

SSS

A friend of mine co-signed 3 private student loans for their daughter. The daughter is out of work and so is the co-signor. They have been in touch with the lender on MANY occasions trying to work out something until they are both working again. They sent them several 100.00 payments when they could, her daughter sent weekly payments of 25-50.00. The lender told them they could not help lower the payments or defer them or anything. Now they sent the loan to the first process of collections. They were so nice to contact the daughter with options that a person with a job couldn't afford. they kept telling them that they had been making payments but they weren't good enough. To make a long story short, their options were unrealistic to say the least. They said they would be sending this to another collection agency (the next step to my friends destruction). They do not know what to do. The co-signor is asking if her tax refund will be taken away? And what can the co-signor and borrower do to get help in paying these private loans back in a fashion that they can afford? Please help.

These sound like private loans and thus tax offset does NOT apply.

They are dealing with the reality of private student loans. There is nothing out there to help them with lower payments or interest rates...these are not government loans. The reality of it is both of them will end up being sued.

my daughter ask me to cosign student loan for her about a month ago I said no now she wants nothing to do with me she said she doesn't trust me anymore. Her mom and step dad cosign for her and she is being mean to me. I pay 100% of her medical premium plus 100% of her deductible which is about $8000 right now cause she had her appendix removed. Plus I pay $100 for her iPhone bill. She is 19 and I have to pay child support till she 21 as long as she is in college. I'm glad she going to school but I didn't think was a good ideas to cosign student loan. I researched what could happen if she defaulted.....now she wants nothing to do with me and has sent me some pretty hateful messages. A lll she can tell me was that I do NOTHING for her..
What is it these days with these frigging kids who think someone owes them a living

I would be cutting off her Iphone asap....she can get a prepaid unlimited text unlimited calls for under $50. I am sure paying her luxury phone bill was not part of your divorce agreement.

She needs to grow up. Maybe get a job and pay her own phone bill??