My question involves collection proceedings in the State of: California
I co-signed a student loan from Sallie-Mae for my step brother after I was out of College. The loan amount at the time I thought was 6g turns out to be 10 thousands. He deferred his loan for over 2 years even though he had a job and he stop making payments on his student loans and now its in default where they are sueing and not accpting monthly payements anymore. He has a steady job but just gambles all his money away. I got a called from a collections agency the other day told me w/ interest I'm responsible for 13 thousand out of 50 thousands that he owes. They've offered to settle my part of it and take my name off of the loan if I pay a little over 6 thousand by a certain date. They are planning to send this to their legal department and sue. The other cosginer for the rest of the amount is his mom. They are planning to sue all 3. He doesn't have any assets but has a steady job so they will probably just garnish his wage.
My question is this........Will they garnish my wage and his mom wage also? Should i just pay the 6 thousand and settle? I really dont' have the money but I can burrow some from friends and sell my stocks to cover this amount. And how do i gurantee that they will take my name off the loan if I make this payment. I spoke to my step-brother and he says he'll pay me monthly if i settle but i doubt him, he's a gambler and liar so I can get a few bucks outta him but that's about it. I guess the only way to guarantee it is to get a lawyer but I cannot afford a lawyer and pay that amount to settle. I've asked for something in writing and they are mailing it to me now. what should i do. should i just wait it out and hopefully they don' t garnish my wage or just settle and bite the bullet. And if I have to pay this 6g how can i gurantee that they will take my name off that loan.
Thanks in Advance for the help.

