Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in New York

Re: Judgement

The short answer to all of your questions is "no."

A judgment against your husband does not attach to your property. It makes no difference that he signed off on your mortgage (more likely, the promissory note secured by the mortgage) so long as you did not deed him an interest in the house as part of the transaction.

You might still be sued, however:

You may be (probably are) responsible for the credit card to the extent that you used it. You are not responsible for the card charges that your husband incurred except, possibly, to the extent that he was paying for "necessities."

Of course, the creditor will tell you otherwise. Start keeping a log with the date and time of the call, the name of the collector, and the substance of the call. ALso log any correspondence you receive from anyone with respect to the claim. The reason for this is that it will be invaluable to you (and, I hope, your legal counsel) in establishing counterclaims under the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. An FDCPA counterclaim has been known to swallow the debt completely and result in a net recovery by the borrower. (There are penalties of up to $1,000 per violation, and your attorney's fees might end up being paid by the creditor, too.)

This post is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is a comment on the legal question posed by the poster and should not be relied upon unless and until an attorney-client relationship is entered into. Doing so would require signing an engagement letter and depositing a retainer to secure payment of legal fees.

Re: Judgment

Mr. Connelly is correct. No matter what your husband owes (though you may be sued personally since you are an authorized user) any judgment against HIM can only be satisfied from HIS assets, not yours. The house is YOURS only and therefore NOT reachable by the Judgment. Note that there are provisions under the law that would allow you to defend yourself from any attempts by any judgment creditor to use your house to satisfy any judgment. Since you do not state the size of the judgment or the amount of equity you have in your home no additional information can be provided. Note that such remedy is NOT available to your husband since he does not have an interest in the home. NOTE: BE careful about letting ANYONE obtain funds against YOUR HOME where if they default you would be liable and your house MAY end up in some forfeiture auction. You have one ex already.