Our 20 year old son has made a series of bad decisions, not the least of which was deceiving us for months as we thought he was in college and provided living expenses accordingly. Long story short, he knew nothing about credit when he co-signed an agreement with an adult (45+ old) to purchase two motorcycles. He has neither; he was just "helping him out." He had good credit due, in part, to being listed as a co-signer on my AmEx account which I pay off completely each month. He's no longer listed.

This adult has not made payments, and the debt is climbing. It's almost $15,000 now, with nothing good in sight.

IF our son is facing bankruptcy, can we allow him to live at home with us again if we charge $200/month rent and document that? He has no assets, and he might have use of a car that is in my name.

Thanks for thoughts.

He can live at home and not pay any rent, it just has to be shown on the reporting.

But if he is living at home, he can just get a job and pay off that debt easy.
Also if you are on any of his debts, you can be held responsible.

Hello,
Please try to discourage your son from filing bankruptcy. If you think his life is ruint now, wait until he does this. $15,000 in debt may seem overwhelming especially if it came about due to your son's co-signing a loan for a friend. Bankruptcy remains on your credit report for 10 years. It may be tougher to find a job, obtain insurance, rent an apartment, get a credit card, get a mortgage, get a car loan etc. so long as the filing remains on the reports. Even though your son did not incur the debt(if I understand your situation correctly), the sad fact is that banks hold the co-signer just as responsible. Believe me, I've gone through a bankruptcy-I filed a Chp.7 when I was 27 yrs old over some VERY retarded crap-almost $90,000 in debt due my incompetence with credit and money. Please encourage your son to find a job and work out an arrangement with whoever holds the loan. They could be understanding, then again, some banks aren't. As a parent, if your son is willing to work through this, be understanding and don't hold him to rent if he is really willing to be an adult and rectify this. Hope I was of some help... take care.