Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Pennsylvania

I have a vehicle in my name that my ex boyfriend was paying the payments on so he could keep it. However the last 3 months he has not paid it and will not give it back he also moved so I don't know where he is living. Can I report this vehicle as stolen?


Asked on 1/02/17, 2:54 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Huh? Although not clear from your post, it seems that your ex-boyfriend had lousy credit so he made you out to be sucker/next victim. His credit was so bad that the dealer would not let him get a co-signer but instead made ex-boyfriend put the car in your name. Which means the financing is in your name as well. Now that you and ex-boyfriend are splitsville, he has disappeared and stopped paying for the car. To protect your credit, you need to keep paying or else the car will be repo'd. If the car is repo'd (the finance company is going to repo it when they find it), they are going to hold you liable for the balance owed after the car is sold.

If you want to suddenly treat the car like its yours, you have a few problems. First, the car was not stolen. You helped your ex-boyfriend commit fraud by allowing the boyfriend to use your credit. Second, you allowed the boyfriend to drive the car and gave him the car to use. If you recover the vehicle, then you will be obligated to keep paying for it. And your boyfriend may have a claim against you for all of the money paid to date.

Even more scary is the fact that boyfriend has the car. Is it insured? What if gets in a wreck with someone and does serious damage? Depending on if he was actually named as a driver on the insurance, you might find yourself being sued and not have any insurance coverage. I don't know why people do this but you should never ever buy property with someone to whom you are not married. You are asking for trouble.

People can be found. Even though boyfriend moved, have you tried to find him? Does he work? Have family? Have you used a people finder service? Failing that, how about a private detective? Do you have a key to the car? If you find the car, if its in your name, you can take it.

Failing that, why not contact the lender and see if they can find and repo it? You will have to pay any deficiency but its better than involving the police.

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Answered on 1/02/17, 5:20 pm


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