Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Pennsylvania

Co-signing is almost always a BAD idea especially when you have no ownership interest in the car and you not related to the person you are co-signing for by blood or marriage.

When you co-sign, you are inducing the lender to lend to the primary borrower by in effect telling the lender, "go ahead and loan the funds because if the primary borrower does not pay, then I, the co-signer will."

Now in your case what has happened is that your boyfriend, did not make the payments for the car. The car was repo'd and sold. Now the car lender is suing you or your boyfriend or both.

There is no point in you appearing. You have to file an answer to the complaint raising any legal defenses. If you have them. see a lawyer immediately so the lawyer can draft an answer and you both can appear. Examples of valid defenses are: (1) you are not financially responsible for the debt; (2) you owe less than as stated; (3) you already paid or (4) the statute of limitations has expired.

Its 4 years in PA for contracts. If its been less than 4 years since the default and sale of the car (which it appears to be) then you don't have a statute of limitations defense if this is in PA.

If you do nothing a judgment will be entered against you. If you have no defenses and admit the debt a judgment will be entered against you.

Rather than worry about suing your boyfriend, right now you have to worry about the judgment which is going to happen. The only way to stop it is by resolving the debt in some way by either paying or by filing bankruptcy. Please contact me at [email protected] if you wish to discuss your circumstances or if you are interested in resolving the debt outside of bankruptcy.

Once you have paid the debt, then you can sue your boyfriend for the amount that you paid on his behalf. How much are they seeking? The limits for small claims are $12,000.