Collection Against Cosigner Over Ten-Year-Old Car Repo

[adviceseeker123]

Hi. I was dumb enough to co-sign a auto loan approx. 10 years ago (1997). Well, the person whom I co-signed the loan for made the payments for a few months, but stopped paying after they lost their job. I was given possession of the car & started making payments. However, the extra burden caused me to be late a few times. Well, the person I co-signed for got tried of the collectors calling them everytime I was late, so they took the car without telling me & they called the lender to come repo it. That was during the summer of 1999. I explained to the lender what happened & I told the lender that I would try to do my best to make the payments if I could have the car back, but that without the car I didn't see the point. Well, they said it had already been repo'd & that it was too late. It was later sold @ auction & I was contacted that a remaining balance of approx. $3000 was due. Well, I hadn't heard anything about it since them, except that I was told that it had been written off. However, I recently got a call saying that it was now out of collections & that they had contacted the borrower & since they were unable & unwilling to pay & since I am the co-signor of the loan, that they were going to turn it over to their legal team unless I agreed to work something out. However, it is not showing up on my credit report & it has not for some time.

My questions are... Is this legit? Why are they waiting so long to do anything? It's been almost 10 years since the loan was signed & 8 years since the repo. What action should I take? Any advice/help would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[aaron]

This is in what state? Has there ever been any court action (a collections lawsuit) in relation to the debt?

[adviceseeker123]

This is in what state? Has there ever been any court action (a collections lawsuit) in relation to the debt?

Kentucky

No court action/lawsuit. Loan was signed in 1997, repo in 1999. Threatening to turn it over to their "legal team" unless agreement is reached soon.

[GreatGadsby]

who is threatening? the original lender? a collection agency?

[adviceseeker123]

who is threatening? the original lender? a collection agency?

I am not 100% positive. However, I believe it most likely is a collection agency because the company name is different than the company who originally financed the loan. The original lender was a large Bank (that is now owned by a larger Bank) & this call was not from either Bank. Also, I recall getting a notice from a collection agency around 7-8 years ago that this loan had been turned over to them. This was after the car had been sold & the $3000+ remaining balance had not been paid.

I just called the number that I was given to ask them to verify exactly who they are & why they are handling this old loan. All I got was an indiviuals voice mail & it made no reference to a company of any kind, only that individuals name was mentioned.

1 more thing... on my credit report this loan was previously listed as "charged off" & I thought that "charged off" meant that it was over with. Plus, it has been probably at least 7 years since I have heard anything from anybody regarding this loan. Also, this loan has not appeared on my credit report for a while now.

[aaron]

Kentucky has a very long statute of limitations for written contracts.

Except as provided in KRS 396.205, 413.110, 413.220, 413.230 and 413.240, the following actions shall be commenced within fifteen (15) years after the cause of action first accrued:

* * *

(2) An action upon a recognizance, bond or written contract.

While I would suggest verifying that the fifteen year period applies to your situation, if it does there's still ample time for them to proceed with a lawsuit.

[Betty3]

As co-signer of the loan, you became responsible for it when the "original" borrower defaulted. My info for Ky. also indicates a 15 yr. SOL to sue on a defaulted car loan/written contract.

[adviceseeker123]

As co-signer of the loan, you became responsible for it when the "original" borrower defaulted. My info for Ky. also indicates a 15 yr. SOL to sue on a defaulted car loan/written contract.

So am I safe to assume that both of you are saying that this most likely is a legit threat & I am likely up the creek without a paddle? That's really depressing news, but it's my fault for co-signing & even though it's too late to do anything about this loan, now I know never to co-sign anything again. Anyway, I do appreciate you both taking the time to look that up & to respond!! Any other advice about what I should do now? Should I try to deal with the collector & avoid possible legal action?