Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

You are as equally liable for the debt as he is. Unfortunately, the only way you will obtain possession is to file a lawsuit which will cost you substantially more than the bed probably originally cost. The best thing you can do is pick-up making the payments that he has stopped making, then sue him in small claims court for what its going to cost you to keep your credit from being destroyed. Getting the bed back is not something you will accomplish in small claims court, and the best you can hope for is a money judgment. Unfortunately, joint credit is a really bad deal if you don't retain possession of the asset that is security for the loan. Your other option is to not pay, however, they will come after you for the balance regardless of who has possession of the bed. They will almost certainly not even bother repossessing the bed if you continue to default.

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The answer may lie in the financing documents and/or bill of sale. Do you have them? There are at least three possibilities: you own the bed; the bank owns the bed (until the last payment is made); or you and your ex own the bed as tenants in common.

Did you use a credit card or a deal-specific financing arrangement? Is there a security agreement among your documents?

There is a legal procedure for obtaining possession of personal property from someone holding it without the right to do so - it's called "claim and delivery" - but probably too expensive and too slow for this situation. At some point, you might have a small-claims case for money for breach of an oral agreement to make the payments, but by the time there is a sufficient breach to make suit (even in small claims) worthwhile, the credit damage will have occurred.

Overall, your best bet is probably negotiation. You get the bed, he doesn't get sued.