My question involves an auto loan or repossession in the State of: Louisiana
In July 2007 my mother was in need of a car so I gave her some money for a down payment ($2000). Her credit wasn't as good as mine and she couldn't get approved for a loan so they asked me to be the co-signer at the dealership. I was still young at the time and new to the car loan thing and they told me to sign as the head person on the loan and she would sign as the co-signer to help get it approved and they would make sure I showed up as the co-signer. I believed them and did so.
My mother lost her job and was unable to make payments on the car so they came and repossessed the car. This was around July 2008 or 2009. The starting balance was like $13,000 and at the time of repossessions it was down to about $7000. We were never notified of the car being resold, where it was resold, or how much it was sold for.
The collectors call me saying that we owe them $10,000 but they would settle for somewhere around $5000. I don't have that much to give for a car that wasn't mine and I don't even know if that amount is accurate because we have no knowledge of the sale of the vehicle.
1) I just want to know how I can find out what is really owed?
2) Can I get this negative account off my credit report? On my credit report it says collection and not repo, and the account is four years old.
3) Is there anything else I should be looking into to solve this?

