Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Missouri
Criminal liability for loan co-signers
My question is if someone has co-signed a home loan for a person and that person engages in criminal activity in the home, can/will the co-signer be held liable and prosecuted? This is assuming the co-signer had no knowledge of any criminal activity going on until the police arrested the homeowner.
Thank you for your time.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Criminal liability for loan co-signers
Under the facts you have described, it is unlikely that a cosigner on a home loan would be criminally charged for acts done solely by the homeowoner, unrelated to the loan.
Re: Criminal liability for loan co-signers
Assuming that the criminal activity you refer to was not done in connection with the home loan, we can generally tell you that no criminal liability would arise simply because you co-signed a loan.