Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Illinois

My husband co-signed a student loan for his nephew with the agreement made by both his nephew and nephew’s mother that payment would consistently be made. Recently we were contacted by the student loan company to inform us that the account is delinquent and they wanted to collect payment from him. Not once was he contacted by his nephew nor his nephew’s mother about them being unable to make payments. Now my husbands have taken a hit on his credit. We were told that this might possibly be fraudulent since he agreed to co-sign with the terms of payments being made. Is there anything we can do legally? My husband doesn’t want his credit to continue to take hits nor does he want his wages to be garnished because of their irresponsibility.


Asked on 5/23/17, 9:10 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Thomas Moens Moens Law Offices, Chartered

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but when your husband co-signed, he agreed to pay the loan if the nephew did not. As between the lender and your husband, he is responsible for the loan, simple as that. You do not say who told you, but it seems unlikely you will get very far with the fraud claim, since you would need to prove that the nephew did not intend to pay right from the beginning. This would be tough to prove even if it was true. Your recourse is against the nephew, but most likely if he had money, he would be paying. You may want to have an attorney review the relevant documents.

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Answered on 5/23/17, 9:20 am


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