Legal Question in Business Law in Connecticut

Re: Lease & Co-Signing

Your husband is liable for the balance of the lease due with the contractual penalties for breach of the lease. Unfortunately there is not much recourse here for yor husband. The lease terms establish the debt due not the value of the vehicle. This debt would be dischargeable in a bankruptcy and if interested please have your husband contact me for a free consultation.

Re: Lease & Co-Signing

Your husband co-signed a "loan," not the value of the vehicle. As we all know, automobiles depreciate as soon as they are driven off the lot. As a co-signer on the auto loan, he is responsible for the debt regardless of whether the individual who purchased the vehicle discharges the debt in bankruptcy.

The fact that the dealership never "got back to" your husband regarding other options, such as purchasing the vehicle, does not relieve your husband of the liability. As we have all heard in the past, just because you didn't receive a bill from the credit card company, doesn't mean you don't owe them a payment or the debt itself. This is the same idea.

There may be one recourse and that is, did the lender sell the vehicle and recoup some of the money from the loan? If so, how much was it sold for and exactly what were the outstanding costs in addition to the original debt. I do not think the lender should get more than what is owed plus the costs to collect that money. Therefore, I think your husband has the right to see this information.

Lately, I have received many questions about co-signing on various types of loans. If you co-sign on a loan, you are making yourself responsible for the debt. (a true lesson to be learned in these hard times)