Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Ohio

In Ohio, when you first co-sign for the loan, you and the debtor are both responsible to the creditor to pay the entire loan back. If the debtor defaults, then the creditor will sue you and the debtor, and will likely get a judgment against both of you unless there is a defense to the loan. You will have a cross claim against the debtor who defaulted, and you will likely will likely win on that claim.

But there is an old saying that getting a judgment is easy, collecting on it is hard. That is why people loaning out money want solvent cosigners.