Is Co-sign Debt Forever?

[cosign4son]

I was foolish. I co-signed for a car lease for my son. It was repo-ed. He owed $7,000 on it. It has been almost 2 years since this happened, my credit report now reflects this bad mark on my credit history. I am now turned down for new credit cards. No one has ever contacted me from the lease company. I guess they realize that my income is non-attachable. I am a 100% disabled veteran. I am not in a position to pay it off. Will this debt be with me forever? Will my credit history be bad forever? I have learned a lesson, NEVER COSIGN FOR ANYONE.

 

[calalily]

You may be able to negotiate a small payment every month, something you could afford. Unfortunately it will stay on your credit report as not paid if you don't make some arrangements. If you do make arrangements do not let them automatically withdraw it from your account because if you don't have the money in your account the bank fees and the late fee from the company will be huge. Plus if you do put money in after that they may take it all leaving you with nothing.

 

[cosign4son]

You may be able to negotiate a small payment every month, something you could afford. Unfortunately it will stay on your credit report as not paid if you don't make some arrangements. If you do make arrangements do not let them automatically withdraw it from your account because if you don't have the money in your account the bank fees and the late fee from the company will be huge. Plus if you do put money in after that they may take it all leaving you with nothing.

Thank you for your reply. What about the statute of limitations on debt?

(see the statute of limitations for debt, for all 50 states)
http://www.bankrate.com/msn/news/cc/20040116b2.asp#hi

Does that not apply? My state that is 6 years. My understanding is that after that time they cannot come after you. My question to be more specific was will that debt be forever on my credit history if the statute of limitations has expired.

Any and all replies are welcome. Anyone out there with a debt still on their history after the statute of limitations is up?

Thank You

 

[calalily]

The statute means they can charge off the debt but it is still reported as unpaid on your credit report. As long as it remains unpaid, it will remain on your credit report as bad debt. Realize though that if you decide to try and pay even a small amount the clock starts ticking again on the statute as it runs from the last payment made to whatever the years are for your state. So if you make a payment today, it would be six years from today for the SOL. So if you can't afford it let it go and just realize ithat YES, it will remain on your credit report.

 

[cosign4son]

Just had a credit report done by Experian. The bad credit item (the repo) was charged off by Honda finance. Which means they wrote off the debt for their accounting purposes. For me the report goes on to say"this account is scheduled to continue on record until May 2011." So that is the answer to the question I had, will the debt stay with me forever.

This forum is a great idea, and thank you to everyone who views or replies to my post.

 

[cosign4son]

Just had my credit report done by Experian. Learned that the debt was (charged off) by Honda Finance, which means that they wrote off the debt for their accounting purposes. The report went on to say, "this account is scheduled to continue on record until May 2011" which would be the end of the 6th year or the end of the Stature of Limitations in my state. This answers to my original question will this debt stay with me forever.

THIS FORUM IS A GREAT IDEA, THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO VIEWED OR REPLIED TO MY POST.