I have made all the payments on a car I cosigned. Do I have to fight for possession of the vehicle?
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).
He wasn't wrong that a mortgage would help your credit score, assuming that this was a perfect world and everyone held up their end of the bargain. However, now that he hasn't, you are still legally obligated to pay the loan amount (including his portion of it). As for a lawsuit, it would be hard to prove what he said verbally, however, it doesn't hurt to call a lawyer for a free consultation. "Cosigning is explicitly a promise that you will make the payments if the primary signer can not. Don't do it unless you are able to handle the cost and trust the other party will ""make you whole"" when they can... which means don't do it for anyone you would not lend your money to, since it comes out to about the same level of risk. Having agreed, you're sorta stuck with your ex-friend's problem. I recommend talking to a lawyer about the safest way get out of this. It isn't clear you can even sue the ex-friend at this point." "Your arrangements with the bank are irrelevant. Whoever is named on the title of the vehicle owns it. If she is the ""primary"", then I assume her name is on the title, therefore she owns the car. If you drive off with the car and it is titled in her name, she can report it stolen and have you arrested for grand theft auto unless you have a dated and signed permission in writing from her to use the car. Point #2: If a car loan was involved, then you didn't ""purchase"" the car, the bank did. If you want to gain ownership of the car, then you need to have her name removed from the title and have yours put in its place. Since the bank has possession of the title, this will require the cooperation of both your girlfriend and the bank." "I want to first state that I'm not an attorney and this is not a response that would be considered legal advice.  I'm going to assume this was a loan was made in the USA.  The OP didnt specify.   A typical auto loan has a borrower and a co-borrower or ""cosigner"".  The first signer on the contract is considered the ""primary"".  As to your question about a primary being a co-borrower my answer would be no.  Primary simply means first signer and you can't be a first signer and a co-borrower.  Both borrower and co-borrower, unless the contract specifies different, are equally responsible for the auto loan regardless if you're a borrower or a co-borrower (primary or not primary).     I'm not sure if there was a situation not specified that prompted the question.  Just remember that when you add a co-borrower their positive and negative financials are handled equally as the borrower.  So in some cases a co-borrower can make the loan not qualify.   (I worked for an auto finance company for 16 years)" I've done this, though with a loan company rather than a bank.  We agreed on price, drove to the loan company's office (the seller having notified them in advance), I gave them the money, got the title, and they gave the balance to the seller.   Important point is that you get the signed-off title from the lienholder. I would steer well clear of this. The risk is that they take your money but don't pay the bank. This wouldn't require dishonesty - what if they run into financial trouble? Any money of yours that they have that hasn't gone on to the bank yet might end up paying off other debts instead of yours. It's not clear if the idea is that you are paying them all the money up front or will be making payments over time, but either way if they don't clear the lien with the bank then the bank can come after the car no matter who is in physical possession of it. That would leave you without either the money or the car. In theory you'd have a legal claim against the seller, but in reality you'd probably find it hard to collect. "I'm sorry to hear you've made a mistake. Having read the contract of sale we signed, I do not see any remedy to your current situation.  However, I'm interested in making sure I do not take advantage of you.  As such, I'll return the vehicle, you can return my money plus the bank fees I paid for the cashiers check, tax, title, and registration, and I will look at buying a vehicle from another dealership.   This seems to be the most fair resolution.  If I were to pay for your mistake at a price I did not agree to, it would not be fair to me.  If you were to allow this vehicle to go to me at the price we agreed to, it wouldn't be fair to you.  If I were to return the car and begin negotiations again, or find a different car in your lot, it would be difficult for us to know that you were not going to make a similar mistake again. At this point I consider the sale final, but if you'd prefer to have the vehicle back as-is, returning to us the money we gave you as well as the additional costs incurred by the sale, then we will do so in order to set things right. Chances are good you will see them back down.  Perhaps they will just cut the additional payment in half, and say, ""Well, it's our mistake, so we will eat half the cost,"" or similar, but this is merely another way to get you to pay more money.   Stand firm.  ""I appreciate the thought, but I cannot accept that offer. When will you have payment ready so we can return the car?"" If you are firm that the only two solutions is to keep the car, or return it for a full refund plus associated costs, I'd guess they'd rather you keep the car - trust me, they still made a profit - but if they decide to have it returned, do so and make sure they pay you in full plus other costs.  Bring all your receipts, etc and don't hand over the keys until you have the check in hand. Then go, gladly, to another dealership that doesn't abuse its customers so badly. If you do end up keeping the car, don't plan on going back to that dealership.  Use another dealership for warranty work, and find a good mechanic for non-warranty work. Note that this solution isn't legally required in most jurisdictions. Read your contract and all documentation they provided at the time of sale to be sure, but it's unlikely that you are legally required to make another payment for a vehicle after the sale is finalized.  Even if they haven't cashed the check, the sale has already been finalized. What this solution does, though, is put you back in the driver's seat in negotiating.  Right now they are treating it as though you owe them something, and thus you might feel an obligation toward them.  Re-asserting your relationship with them as a customer rather than a debtor is very important regardless of how you proceed. You aren't legally culpable, and so making sure they understand you aren't will ultimately help you. Further, dealerships operate on negotiation. The primary power the customer has in the dealership is the power to walk away from a deal. They've set the situation up as though you no longer have the power to walk away.  They didn't threaten with re-possession because they can't - the sale is final. They presented as a one-path situation - you pay.  Period. You do have many options, though, and they are very familiar with the ""walk away"" option.  Present that as your chosen option - either they stick with the original deal, or you walk away - and they will have to look at getting another car off the lot (which is often more important than making a profit for a dealership) or selling a slightly used car. If they've correctly pushed the title transfer through (or you, if that's your task in your state) then your brief ownership will show up on carfax and similar reports, and instantly reduces the car's worth.  Having the title transfer immediately back to the dealership doesn't look good to future buyers. So the dealership doesn't want the car back.  They are just trying to extract more money, and probably illegally, depending on the laws in your jurisdiction. Reassert your position as customer, and decide now that you'll be fine if you have to return it and walk away. Then when you communicate that to them, chances are good they'll simply cave and let the sale stand as-is." Once a debt has gone to a debt collector, you have to work with the debt collector to settle your debt. Essentially, the department store sold your debt to the debt collector so they don't have to deal with it anymore. You have rights when contacted by debt collectors. You can negotiate a deal so that the amount you actually pay is lower than what you owe. It is illegal for them to quote you for a higher amount than what you actually owe! Also, they can't threaten you or pretend to be a credit bureau. Your best bet is to work with them and negotiate a better payment. Don't give up. Collectors often times purchase the debt for a very low amount, so even if you pay less than what you actually owe, the collector will still make a profit.  https://www.credit.com/debt/collections-crash-course/ Co-signing is not the same as owning. If your elderly lady didn't make any payments on the loan, and isn't on the ownership of the car, and there was no agreement that you would pay her anything, then you do not owe either her or her daughter any money. Also the loan is not affecting the daughter's credit, and the mother's credit is irrelevant (since she is dead). However you should be aware that the finance company will want to know about the demise of the mother, since they can no longer make a claim against her if you default. I would start by approaching the loan company, telling them about the mother's death, and asking to refinance in your name only. If you've really been keeping up the payments well this could be OK with them. If not I would find someone else who is prepared to co-sign a new loan with you, and still refinance. Then just tell the daughter that the loan her mother co-signed for has been discharged, and there is nothing for her to worry about. 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 If this is because he wants to avoid paying taxes, will I get in trouble if I agree to have him work on my vehicle? You should check your state and local sales tax laws to be certain, but in my state you have no liability if he does not pay his taxes.  That's his problem, not yours.  The biggest risk for you is if something goes wrong, you have no proof that the work was ever done, so it's possible he could deny that any transaction ever took place and refuse to correct it or refund your money.  So at worst you're out what you paid for the service, plus what it would cost you to fix it if you needed to and chose to do so.  If you don't want to take that risk, then insist on a receipt or take you  business elsewhere, but there's no criminal liability for you if he chooses not to report the income. EDIT Be aware, though that state tax is levied at the state and local level, so the laws of your individual state or city may be different. "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." "In the US, ""title"" is the document that shows ownership of the car. It is a nicely printed document you get from the DMV, that includes the information about the car and about you. You ""sign off the title"" when you sell the car - part of the title is a form on which the owner of the title can assign it to someone else. With your signature on the title, the new owner goes to the DMV which exchanges it to a new title in the new owner's name. Never sign on the title unless you got the payment for the car from the buyer. Usually, when the car is bought with a loan, the lender holds the title. Since you need to sign off the title to pass the ownership if you sell the car - lender holding on to it will prevent you from selling the car until the lender gives you the title back (when you pay off the loan). Your boss, acting as a lender, wants the title to hold on to it to prevent you from selling the car that secures your debt to him. He wants that (usually pink) piece of paper. Here's an article explaining about the title and showing a sample. Lenders holding the title will usually also add an endorsement at the DMV, so that you can't go and claim that you lost it." Not sure if it is the same in the States as it is here in the UK (or possibly even depends on the lender) but if you have any amount outstanding on the loan then you wouldn't own the vehicle, the loan company would. This often offers extra protection if something goes wrong with the vehicle - a loan company talking to the manufacturer to get it resolved carries more weight than an individual. The laon company will have an army of lawyers (should it get that far) and a lot more resources to deal with anything, they may also throw in a courtesy car etc. There are different options here.  Either way, ensure that you have a paper trail of all your payments. When in doubt, speak to a lawyer, there are many who offer free consultations.