My ex sold our car that still had money owed
It is a legal issue for two reasons. In the United States if both names were on the title both people would have had to sign the paperwork in order to transfer the title. If the car was collateral for the loan, then the bank would have had to be involved in the transaction. The portion of the check need to repay the loan would have had to have been made out to the bank. If the car was sold to a dealership, then paperwork must have been forged. If the car was sold to a person then it is possible that they were too naive to know what paperwork was required, but it is likely still fraud. You need legal advice to protect your money, and your credit score. They should also be able to tell you who needs to be contacted: DMV, the police, the dealership, the bank. This is not a finance issue, it is a legal one.  You need to talk to a lawyer. To save your credit you can pay off the bank now and fight out the details with your ex later.  The bank is still owed their money.
Your best bet would be to add your name to the title through the bank or have her sell it to you for the amount she owes then you get a loan for that amount like they said before. If you guys split up at this point she'll legally get to keep the car you've been paying for. You could apply for a new loan and have her cosign but it'll make your monthly payments higher. Have her sell you the car for the amount owed them you get a loan for that amount. Since you are together and you've been paying for it you won't lose any money and your monthly payments won't be expensive if you don't owe that much on the car. Pretty much having her sell it to you would be the smartest idea cause keeping Her name on the title will allow Her to legally drive away in your car if you split and you don't want that lol The other person has to decide that they want to be wholly responsible for the loan, and they have to be able to qualify for the loan. They are in essence purchasing the car from you with the sale price being the remaining balance of the loan.  You will then use the processed from the new loan to pay the old loan off completely. They will then take the bill of sale to the state DMV/MVA to register the car in their name. You should have them start with their bank for a new car loan. "Your son is in the right. But he broke the ""unwritten"" rules, which is why the car dealer is upset. Basically, cars are sold in the United States at a breakeven price. The car company makes ALL its money on the financing. If everyone bought ""all cash,"" the car companies would not be profitable. No one expected anyone, least of all your son, a ""young person,"" to pay ""all cash."" When he did, they lost all the profit on the deal. On the other hand, they signed a contract, your son met all the FORMAL requirements, and if there was an ""understanding"" (an assumption, actually), that the car was supposed to be financed, your son was not part of it.  Good for him. And if necessary, you should be prepared to back him up on court." I wouldn't give it a second thought. I'd get rid of the extra car and do everything I could in the following months to repay the emergency fund. Even without the interest payments, I'd consider getting rid of an unused car due to the very nature of a car being a depreciating asset that has insurance expenses and annual registration fees on top of that depreciation. The one exception to the above would be a classic car that was purchased for an investment that is always garaged and doesn't need to be registered for road use. I take it for granted that most people who can afford such investments don't need my advice about when to sell. "You're supposed to be filling form 433-A. Vehicles are on line 18. You will fill there the current fair value of the car and the current balance on the loans. The last column is ""equity"", which in your case will indeed be a negative number. The ""value"" is what the car is worth. The ""equity"" is what the car is worth to you. IRS uses the ""equity"" value to calculate your solvency. Any time you fill a form to the IRS - read the instructions carefully, for each line and line. If in doubt - talk to a professional licensed in your state. I'm not a professional, and this is not a tax advice." Update: here is a message the seller just sent me. Does this make sense?  I spoke with my bank again and they explained it a little better for me. I guess how it works is they will print out something for you that is called an affidavit in lieu of title that states they are no longer the lein holder and to release it to you. You then take that to the dol and they get it put in your name. He says that's how they do it all the time. When we get to the bank, the teller just verifies the check and I deposit it and they release the funds to pay off the account and that's when you would get the paperwork. You would be there for the whole process so nothing is sketchy. Sorry it's such a pain, I didn't understand how that worked. We've never sold a car with a loan on it before. My assumption here is that you paid nearly 32K, but also financed about 2500 in taxes/fees.  At 13.5% the numbers come out pretty close.  Close enough for discussion. On the positive side, you see the foolishness of your decision however you probably signed a paper that stated the true cost of the car loan.  The truth in lending documents clearly state, in bold numbers, that you would pay nearly 15K in interest.  If you pay the loan back early, or make larger principle payments that number can be greatly reduced. On top of the interest charge you will also suffer depreciation of the car.  If someone offered you 31K for the car, you be pretty lucky to get it.  If you keep it for 4 years you will probably lose about 40% of the value, about 13K. This is why it is foolish for most people to purchase a new vehicle.  Not many have enough wealth to absorb a loss of this size.  In the book A Millionaire Next Door the author debunks the assumption that most millionaires drive new cars.  They tend to drive cars that are pretty standard and a couple of years old.  They pay cash for their cars. The bottom line is you singed documents indicating that you knew exactly what you were getting into.  Failing any other circumstances the car is yours.  Talking to a lawyer would probably confirm this. You can attempt to sell it and minimize your losses, or you can pay off the loan early so you are not suffering from finance charges. "You say ""it's expensive"".  I'm going to interpret this as ""the monthly payments are too high"". Basically, you need to get your old loan paid off, presumably by selling the car you have now.  This is the tough part.  If you sold the car now, how much would you get for it?  You can use Kelley Blue Book to figure out what the car is roughly worth.  That's not a guarantee that it will actually sell for that much.  Look in your local classifieds to see what similar cars are selling for.  (Keep in mind that you will usually get less for your old car if you trade it in versus sell it yourself.) Now, if you owe more than your car is worth, you're in a really tight spot.  If you don't get enough money when you sell it, you are still stuck with the remainder of the loan.  In that case, it is usually best to just stick with the car you have, and be more cautious about payments and loan length the next time you finance a car. Penalties:  Most car loans don't have any kind of early repayment penalty.  However, you should check your loan paperwork just to make sure." "A repossessed automobile will have lost some value from sale price, but it's not valueless.  They market ""title loans"" to people without good credit on this basis so its a reasonably well understood risk pool." You're not missing anything. Consumer protection in the US is very basic and limited, if at all. So if someone claims you owe them something, it would be really hard for you to prove otherwise unless you actually drag them to court. Especially if there actually was a relationship, and there probably is some paperwork to substantiate the claim. I suggest talking to a consumer issues attorney. An option that no one has yet suggested is selling the car, paying off the loan in one lump sum (adding cash from your emergency sum, if need be), and buying an old beater in its place.  With the beater you should be able to get a few years out of it - hopefully enough to get you through your PhD and into a better income situation where you can then assess a new car purchase (or more gently-used car purchase, to avoid the drive-it-off-the-lot income loss).   Even better than buying another car that you can afford to pay for is if you can survive without that car, depending on your location and public transit options.  Living car free saves you not only this payment but gas and maintenance, though it costs you in public transit terms. Right now it looks as if this debt is hurting you more than the amount in your emergency fund is helping.  Don't wipe out your emergency fund completely, but be willing to lower it in order to wipe out this debt. Ordinarily a cosigner does not appear on the car's title (thus, no ownership at all in the vehicle), but they are guaranteeing payment of the loan if the primary borrower does not make the payment. You have essentially two options: Stop making payments for him.  If he does not make them, the car will be repossessed and the default will appear on both his and your credit.  You will have a credit ding to live with, but he will to and he won't have the car. Continue to make payments if he does not, to preserve your credit, and sue him for the money you have paid.  In your suit you could request repayment of the money or have him sign over the title (ownership) to you, if you would be happy with either option.  I suspect that he will object to both, so the judge is going to have to decide if he finds your case has merit. If you go with option 1 and he picks up the payments so the car isn't repossessed, you can then still take option 2 to recover the money you have paid.  Be prepared to provide documentation to the court of the payments you have made (bank statements showing the out-go, or other form of evidence you made the payment - the finance company's statements aren't going to show who made them). "I would not concede your money to your dad IF he is really wronging you - and we need much more detail to tell.  This is the first lesson in life that actually following up on ""wrong"" things will save you thousands of dollars throughout your adulthood.  It is really easy to turn the other way and be out a few thousand dollars.  Then the hospital overbills you and you let it go and so on.  Follow up, it is your money. The laws behind this are pretty cut and dry.  Basically if you put money into one account and only your money was touching the account then it is your money.  As a minor this is an expectation and once your turn 18 in the US you have a right to your money.  That is given that the money was in the account at 18. So if your dad truly did not touch the account and withdraw the money before you turned 18, it is cut and dry.  If your dad took money out before 18 or added his own money to the account it gets rather fuzzy since it is easy for dad to say that I took money out for your expenses. As for this being ""nuclear"" as keshlam suggests - he is right.  His advice is fine but sets you up for people taking advantage of your throughout your life, especially your family.  In fact the situation is already nuclear but you were the only thing the bomb hit.   So talk to your dad.  Explain that you will have to go and file a small claims trial if he does not agree to give you the money.  If your situation is already over the top I would bring the paperwork with you filled out.  (a person at your local clerk's office will help you find the right forms) You on the other hand better weigh this conversation.  We ""internet peoples"" are only hearing one side of the story.  We do not understand your situation at your home.  We don't understand who pays for your car, gas, clothes, and room and board.  You are 18, so there is no obligation for parents to pay for these things.   If I had an 18 year old that had 3K in the bank under my name and they hadn't helped around the house in a year, didn't buy their car, had a poor attitude, and so on I would probably have the same action as your dad.  Yea it's ""your money"" but is it really?  When I was 18 I bought ALL my clothes, bought my car, bought my gas/insurance, and so on.  I paid for my toothpaste.  If this is where you are at and you help out around the house like an adult would then you have solid ground to stand on. If not... I would laugh if I were your dad.  My first thought would be you want your money, that is fine.  But you are paying rent.  Car is gone, get your own.  You would be paying for everything.  But you would have ""your money"".  So you have some pros and cons to weigh here and taking the money could cost you a TON of money in the future.  However if your dad is just being a pure jerk (I kind of doubt this but who knows) then you have an obligation to fight for what is yours. (Note that the end goal of any meeting like this in your life shouldn't be court.  It should be an agreement so that the right action is taken and both parties are happy.  It could be very well that your dad would be happy with something that has nothing to do with the money.  Also there are people with really really bad situations at their homes.  A controlling parent is a pretty good ""bad"" situation and an easy one to solve at 18 - move out.  If you don't want to move out then accept your family members, not complain about them.  No matter how controlling your dad is your question spews of ungrateful teenager.  I am sure you aren't that bad and I am sure your dad isn't that bad.) (And another note:  In no way, shape, or form am I suggesting you drop the money issue.  There is nothing worse than not talking about it even if you think your dad will kick you out of the house.  Resentment building up in yourself or family is the worst possible thing.  This needs to be dealt with.)" Is your name on the title at all? You may have (slightly) more leverage in that case, but co-signing any loans is not a good idea, even for a friend or relative. As this article notes: Generally, co-signing refers to financing, not ownership. If the   primary accountholder fails to make payments on the loan or the retail   installment sales contract (a type of auto financing dealers sell),   the co-signer is responsible for those payments, or their credit will   suffer. Even if the co-signer makes the payments, they’re still not   the owner if their name isn’t on the title. The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) notes: If you co-sign a loan, you are legally obligated to repay the loan in   full. Co-signing a loan does not mean serving as a character reference   for someone else.  When you co-sign, you promise to pay the loan yourself. It means that   you risk having to repay any missed payments immediately. If the   borrower defaults on the loan, the creditor can use the same   collection methods against you that can be used against the borrower   such as demanding that you repay the entire loan yourself, suing you,   and garnishing your wages or bank accounts after a judgment. Your   credit score(s) may be impacted by any late payments or defaults. Co-signing an auto loan does not mean you have any right to the   vehicle, it just means that you have agreed to become obligated to   repay the amount of the loan. So make sure you can afford to pay this   debt if the borrower cannot. Per this article and this loan.com article, options to remove your name from co-signing include: If you're name isn't on the title, you'll have to convince your ex-boyfriend and the bank to have you removed as the co-signer, but from your brief description above, it doesn't seem that your ex is going to be cooperative. Unfortunately, as the co-signer and guarantor of the loan, you're legally responsible for making the payments if he doesn't. Not making the payments could ruin your credit as well. One final option to consider is bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is a drastic option, and you'll have to weigh whether the disruption to your credit and financial life will be worth it versus repaying the balance of that auto loan. Per this post: Another not so pretty option is bankruptcy. This is an extreme route,   and in some instances may not even guarantee a name-removal from the   loan. Your best bet is to contact a lawyer or other source of legal help to review your options on how to proceed with this issue. How's your savings and emergency fund? Everyone should have an emergency fund that will last them 6 months, and the goal should be two years' worth.  This should be in an easily accessible account, such as a savings or money market account at your bank (you could consider CDs, but unless you're laddering them there will be penalties to get at the money). Once you've got 6 months' worth saved, the next thing to focus on is a tax advantaged retirement account.  Only when you've maxed out your contributions (and the tax benefits) should you consider other investments.  After all, those tax benefits are free money from Uncle Sam :)