In AZ and question about BK7 and being a cosigner for car

[triumph]

My attny hasn't gotten back to me yet about my question:

I co-signed on a 36 month lease and we are half way through. What happens to the note? Do they repo the car? Do they do nothing and keep other cosigner on when the note is current?

I have retained yet because of this reason. I don't want to drop 500 for the retainer for nothing.

This forum rocks!

[sbatman]

We live in AZ, so this may apply to you. Fiance cosigned on my brand new car (Honda) just prior to my filing Chapter 7 here in AZ. We went through Honda financing. He did not file. The only change was that Honda stopped sending us invoices/statements. Even though Sweetie Pie didn't file, though he remained on the hook. When we needed to call for information, we were transferred to the bankruptcy department. But,, we could access our account online. We continued the payments that we had been doing prior to my BK7. When the car was paid off, they sent us a title. Just like regular folks.

So, no problem for us. That is, if you have a Honda financed car and the procedure is still the same. I don't know about other banks or dealer financing.

BUT, you only have (I think) a $5K vehicle value exemption (of your half of the equity) for the BK here in AZ, so you want to make sure that you have less than that in equity. Also, if you have an outrageous car payment, the trustee may not let you keep it, at least that's what I saw online. If you need to pay down the balance to get that, make sure you're not running afoul of the law by making preferential payments, et cetera.

My BK was one of the best things that I've done financially. The other was a strategic foreclosure for an underwater maintenance hog of a house.

Good luck!

[LadyInTheRed]

The vehicle exemption definitely is not an issue because triumph does not own the car.

Unfortunately, I don't know what will happen with a lease situation. I can't imagine the Lessor will want the car back if you are continuing to make payments. But, stranger things have happened. I hope you are able to get an answer from your attorney.