Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Colorado

Seperation-Joint Credit Card- goods sold before seperation

My x-girfriend and I got a joint CC (credit Card) together at one point and both agreed to pay half of it each month. We bought 3 things. A PC, a AC, and a stero amounting to about $3,000. She was the "Primary" person and i was the co-signer. We later sold the AC for about $150 (think it was orignially $350), we both agreed to sell the PC also (to my mother) for $400 and i told her i would build a new one (PC), and she has the stereo to this day ($400 i think when we bought it). Anyhow, we had a nasty seperation (again, we werent married but togther for 5 years). Now she insits that i pay the whole debt in full for the CC as she does not have the PC and claims that i built the new PC with the moneys made by selling the old one. I did build a new PC after the old one was sold but built it with my own money through CC's of my own. What is she responsible for as far as the CC goes?Nobody has been paying the bill as of late because she insits i owe it all and i think if i start to pay it she will not contribute and i dont have the resources to take her to court. If i am going to be liable for the whole thing i would like to know before she takes me to court. Thank you for your help


Asked on 7/28/99, 4:28 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Re: Seperation-Joint Credit Card- goods sold before seperation

I think you each owes $175 on the A/C (the $75 from proceeds, presumably, and another $100, too), and she owes YOU $200 toward the stereo she kept.

Until the bill is paid, she's going to have a bad credit rating and behind her, probably you will also have a bad credit report.

Who got the proceeds of the computer sale to your mother? Computer cost 2250, sold for 400, your mutual usage cost you each (2250-400)/2 = 975. Proceeds went ... where? You didn't say if your mother paid you, her, half to each of you, or never got around to it. It's a relatively key point in the issue; who primarily used it while you had it together? Why did you two give it to your mother? Was she really agreed to sell it to your mother for so little because it was only worth that much by the time you sold it? (What kind was it, anyway? $400 is rather low for a working computer !) Know that if your mother benefitted, that doesn't benefit her indirectly as much as it does you, so you could end up on the hook for more than half of that expenditure.

Judge Koch on the People's Court just tonight awarded his maximum to the person who had the greater need for a computer in a relationship gone bad with a joint credit card bill unpaid! What better source of law is there than that??????????

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Answered on 7/30/99, 12:30 am
Susan Freiman The Legal Clinic

Re: Seperation-Joint Credit Card- goods sold before seperation

It depends on what you signed for the credit card company, but almost certainly you are liable to the company for the entire debt.

However, you may be able to claim that she must pay you back at least part of the debt. You could sue her in small claims court, very inexpensively, and without a lawyer.

Good luck!

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Answered on 7/29/99, 4:16 pm


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