English
EspañolV and A both on title/loan to car. V asks to refinance without A. Explanation about difference between who is on loan and who is on title
Often times when people finance a car together, there are two issues to address. If two people get a car in both of their names, this often means the title to the car lists both names. Also, often people don’t pay for the car in full so they finance the car together. So, this means that there is basically a loan on the car in both of their names. Although the two seem related, legally, there isn’t necessarily a relation between the loan and the title. In other words, even if someone is able to remove another person from the loan by re-financing in their name only (without the abusive person), that doesn’t remove the abusive person’s name from the title. So, the abusive person would not be on the hook for the loan but would still be a part-owner of the car.
If one person doesn’t have enough money to continue to make the payments on his/her own, it can negatively affect one’s credit. Also, if a car is repossessed, that also can damage one’s credit. [IF THE PERSON SAYS THAT THEY CAN’T AFFORD TO MAKE PAYMENTS, YOU CAN ALSO ADD SAMPLE LANGUAGE FROM “V co-signed for loan with A - is being hounded for payment by creditor” THAT TALKS ABOUT TRYING TO GET OFF THE LOAN]
Also, I want to mention that if two people have agreed to pay off a loan, and only one is doing it, s/he may be able to sue the co-signer of the loan in small claims court to recover all or some of the money paid on the loan. A person may even be able to sue multiple times if s/he continues to have to make the payments after suing for the first period of payments made. Here is information on our website about suing someone in small claims court. [EDIT THE LINK AND CHANGE THE STATE ABBREVIATION TO THE WRITER’S STATE] However, if there is a history of domestic violence, you would have to evaluate if such a court case could put you in further danger.
[ADD THIS ONLY IF SHE WORRIES THAT HE WILL REPORT IT STOLEN OR IF HE THREATENS TO DO SO: In terms of his threats about reporting it stolen, generally when two people own something, either of them can legally have it in their possession. I am not specifically knowledgeable about STATE’s laws, however, so if you are afraid that you may get in trouble if he does make such a report, you may want to talk to a local legal services organization [EDIT THE LINK AND CHANGE THE STATE ABBREVIATION TO THE WRITER’S STATE] to ask for a lawyer’s advice.]
