[potatoehead]

On January 3, 2006 in the state of Texas, I co-signed and made the down payment for a truck for a friend who hasn't made the payments on his own without my financial support since. He has been using the truck as a reason to extort money from me.

He knows that I value my credit rating and will not allow a payment to lapse. He has threatened to drive the truck into my house and choked me (in front of his daughter) when I attempted to take the keys from him on April 19, 2006. On Friday, May 26th, he called from an unknown phone number and threatened to play "hard ball" if I don't give him $1,000 to pay his rent, car payment, child support and insurance.

He has managed to put more than 20,000 miles on the truck since January. I believe him to have a serious drug addiction and suspect he is trafficking illegal drugs with the truck.

It states in our contract that the vehicle will not be used for such dealings.

I do not know of his whereabouts, nor do I have any way of communicating with him to know whether he has been arrested or not, or if the truck has been impounded or if he has taken the vehicle out of the country.

How can I get my name off the title and resign as a co-signer? Is there any way I can get out of this without ruining my good credit standing?

[aaron]

If you are jointly on the title, you should be able to get keys through the dealership and take possession should you locate the truck.

The lender is not going to release you from the loan unless the loan is paid off or your "friend" successfully refinances. Removing yourself from the title would leave you unable to take possession of the truck.

[potatoehead]

Thank you for your input aaron. Can I sue him for posession and the downpayment & past payments? That way I could get him off the title and sell the vehicle.

[aaron]

You can sue him for the money he owes. As you are both on the title, he would ordinarily have the same right to possession as you. You may be able to convince a court to order the sale of the vehicle, with the proceeds applied to the loan.

I should mention, if you do find the truck and take it, you should notify the local police in advance (local to where the truck is located) and establish your ownership to their satisfaction, as the truck may be reported stolen.

[potatoehead]

How long does it take (usually) to get a court date. Do I need a lawyer to do this? If I can do this on my own, how do I get a court date and serve him with a subpoena?
Gratefully,
P

[aaron]

You can sue for money in small claims court - up to $5,000. For a larger amount, and probably if you want an order to have the vehicle sold, you would not be able to go to small claims court. You can handle the litigation on your own, but you may wish to consult a lawyer and perhaps have the complaint drafted by a lawyer. You would normally use a process server to serve a summons and complaint on the defendant, although in some states a small claims court will arrange service - it will help if you can find an address. The amount of time it takes to get a court date depends upon the court in which you file, how busy its docket is, and how difficult it is to serve the defendant.