Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Damages after Divorce Settlement?

My fiance and I looked into purchasing a house together a few months ago. During this time our loan officer looked at our credit reports and was unable to give us a loan due to a car repossesion on my fiance's report. This was news to him and so we obtained a copy of the credit report. My fiance was previously married and had purchased a car with his then wife, he was the co-signer. We have since found out that she missed a payment within the first year and the loan company put out a reposession notice on the car, which she signed for and never told my fiance (then her husband). Several days later they refinanced the car and he was no longer a co-signer. Since then she commited adultry and he filed for divorce which was granted. He did not sue for alimony or anything that he could have possibly recieved from her, he just wanted to be rid of her. Now, after the final papers have been sent, we are finding out that his credit is bad because of her deception, and it is affecting his life now. My question is, is there anything he can do now, any damages he would have a chance a recieving, or is he just out of luck, thinking about the shoulda coulda woulda's?


Asked on 9/22/04, 8:59 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Sher Wagshal and Sher

Re: Damages after Divorce Settlement?

Your fiance shouldn't waste his time pursuing the ex for damages. When you co-sign for someone, you put your own credit rating at risk, even though you think you're just doing someone a favor.

What you should do is explain the circumstances to the lender, probably in a letter, and hope to persuade them to disregard the incident as a black mark on his credit. If by chance he can obtain the documents showing he was only a co-signer not principally responsible for the payments, that might help, although legally there's no distinction. If he and the ex were on decent terms, I would suggest trying to get her to write a letter explaining the circumstances and verifying that it was her responsibility to make the payments and not his fault that the default on the car loan happened.

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Answered on 9/23/04, 10:05 am


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