Information Subpoena Please help

[hakaider]

I have received an Information Subpoena from a Judgement. There is a question i dont know how to answer.
It says if i am a owner of a car yes or no i dont own a car but i did co signed for a car that the person is still paying, because of this i dont know what to put. I also register the car in both are names because she has no license.

[catleg]

Is your name on the title?

[hakaider]

I just check the title will be in both our names when she finishes paying it off in 3 years.

[treehugger1]

If the question refers to "Do you own a car?" and you are making payments, then clearly you don't OWN the car. This would be like people claiming they "own their own home," even though they owe $200K for it. Give me a break. In my mind if you have a title and you are the only party with interest in the title, then you OWN it. Of course, the law is not set up to be this clear.

I digress...Look, if you are cosigner, how can you own the car?

This is not legal advise. I'm just attempting to offer up common sense from the perspective of an unsophisticated consumer.

[WhatMoney]

I just check the title will be in both our names when she finishes paying it off in 3 years.

Does this mean only you are on the title now? Not clear on your answer.

You appear to be driving the car, since the other owner does not have a license.

If both names appear on the title, for exemption purposes you may own 50% of the car, at least in some states.

[discouraged]

I co-signed on a loan for a motorcycle for my son and yes, technically we are both the owners.

[catleg]

If you are on the title you are the "owner" even if there are liens representing more than the total value of the car.
Same way you "own" a house even if you are deep underwater and not even making the payments.
I'm pretty sure the NJ Information Subpoena lets you list the liens associated with the car.
Once you list those, they'll leave you alone.

As someone who's been through this process, the information subpoena is about 3 things:
1. intimidation with a capital I
2. find any assets if you're dumb enough to list them (or your employer).
3. clear the way for docketing the judgment (NJ law requires a diligent effort to be made to collect against personal property of the debtor before a judgment may be docketed against real estate, and an i.s. satisfies this requirement).

I would just fill it in, with whatever chickenscratch you like (they really expect to get legible VIN numbers? who are they kidding), and send it to plaintiff's attorney.

Then you're off the hook for 6 months.

There is plenty of procedure and precedent in NJ civil law for what happens upon not answering an information subpoena, but very little with what a plaintiff is supposed to do if they're not happy with the completeness of the answer, and quite frankly, what is true one day may be untrue the next.

Not telling you to lie or omit anything, but if they can't read it, or you list a bank account and change banks the next day (hint, hint), well, stuff happens. :-)

[hakaider]

Thank you all for your reply