Co-Signer On TERI Loan

[evil step mom]

My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: MA
In 1999, I stupidly gave into the pleads and promises of my step daughter and co-signed a student loan for her. 2.5 years ago, she decided she hated me and her father and to punish us for being evil people, she stopped paying her student loans that I had co-signed. Through illness, layoffs, disability, I have somehow managed to pay this loan for the 2.5 years. The step daughter is finally graduating from college on 5/17 - it only took her 9 years to get her undergraduate degree. According to her mother, she decided that we were responsible for paying this while she was in school. There never was a verbal agreement or even a conversation about me having to pay this loan. Now that she is graduating from college as an RN, and should be making very good money, I am worried that she will never start paying. Why should she? If she does not pay, they come after me.
What are my options? I am not concerned about taking legal actions since there is no chance that this relationship can ever be repaired. I am not as concerned about being repaid for the 2.5 years as I am making sure that I do not have to pay on this any more. Can I sue her to force her to refinance this loan and have my name taken off of it?

[Betty3]

You should always consider and understand the impact carefully before cosigning your child's loan. A cosigner is equally liable for loan repayment along with the borrower. If your child is unable to make payments on the loan, you will be responsible for payment. If you don't have the money to make the payments, your credit profile will be damaged, along with your child's.

You might want to continue making payments so your credit does not get damaged & try suing your step-daughter for repayment. Collecting might be a problem though -- you did co-sign to be responsible for the loan. There is no agreement in the loan papers that the borrower will repay the co-signer. Hopefully, now that she has graduated as a RN she will start making payments.

[evil step mom]

I know - I thought I was being a good step parent, enabling a child of divorced parents to go to college. I believed the promises that I would never have to pay a penny on this loan. I won't even talk about the 1 parent loan that I took out for her or the 2 years of parent loans that I took out for her sister. They get to love the high life, traveling, buying new cars, clothes, while I am seriously close to losing my home. But hey - they got what they wanted, now they can cut me and their father out of their life. Now one can get married and not even invite her father to her wedding.
Am I bitter - you bet. Any step parents out there - do not co-sign for your step children - they will screw you all the time.

[Betty3]

It's hard to get your name actually off the loan particularly if the borrower isn't paying. (The lender doesn't like that idea) Normally, like I said, you can pay & then sue & possibly/hopefully get your money back. It's not a sure thing.

I'm sorry this happened to you when you tried to do the right thing.

[Rosa19]

You can't pay and hope to get your money back from your step daughter in a lawsuit. Forget it, you co-signed you are both jointly and severably liable. If you pay, you are admitting the debt is validly yours and would likey be estopped from arguing otherwise in any proceeding against your daughter in law. You can try getting her to refinance the debt so it is not in your name. Some private student loan programs offer a co-signer release after several years of positive payment history.

[Mr. Knowitall]

You can't pay and hope to get your money back from your step daughter in a lawsuit. Forget it, you co-signed you are both jointly and severably liable.

No. Signing on as a guarantor does not make you equally responsible for the debt - your responsibility is secondary to the borrower's. And when the borrower defaults such that the guarantor has to cover the obligation, the guarantor most certainly can seek indemnification from the borrower.