Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Georgia

You shouldn't do it. It's a dangerous and ill-thought idea that is almost certain to create unfixable problems. If you friend is so bad a deadbeat that no lender will finance him, obviously you shouldn't.

What you propose is a surefire recipe for disaster. If the car is purchased in your name then your friend is not going to be able to get insurance in his/her name. So that means you will have to get it and list your friend as a driver. And we don't know what kind of driver he/she is or what your rates will be. If you do not do this and your friend wrecks the car and is in an accident with someone else, then any driver who is injured is coming after you for any damages. Even if no one is involved, your friend could wreck the car and leave you holding the back because the friend is going to disappear and move onto his/her next victim.

If your friend cannot finance a car, it can mean either that he/she has no credit or bad credit. The latter is more probably the case. Your friend needs to save cash and buy a beater for under $5,000. You need to stay out of this if you value your friendship.

And what happens if you buy the car and everything is great for awhile - your friend has the car and repays you. Then one day, he/she stops paying. Your credit is trashed because the finance company made the loan in your name. They will start calling and if you don't pay your credit will be ruined. And what if your friend leaves the state with the car? The finance company will not be able to repossess and will again come after you and you will then have to pay for a car you do not have.

While that is the most likely scenario, here is another - friend has the car and pays and you are killed in a tragic accident and do not have a will. Your heirs/beneficiaries start finding your assets and demand return of the car because there is nothing in writing about this. So your friend will then be out the car. Or in a kinder gentler scenario, you and your friend have a falling out at some point. You demand return of the car that is in your name and friend says no. What then? Or what if you refuse to sign over the car after your friend has paid for it?

To paraphrase Nike - "Just don'[t do it." If you do, you will live to regret it.