[lorij]

I hope I'm in the right place. The suit is for over $8000. It's from the credit union (CU) where his paychecks were auto deposit. We had a loan for an explorer suv mostly for me and the kids. The engine blew in his pickup, so we went to his CU for a loan for another vehicle for him. CU said he had too much on his plate for his name first. So my name was put first, his secondary. We divorced 5yrs ago. In the divorce he was awarded everything-our kids, house, all vehicles, all assets. Shortly after divorce was final, the house was foreclosed on, he defaulted on the loans; the vehicles were repossessed. Now I'm being sued for the vehicle loans. I'm not sure what to do exactly, The notice said I can file a denial form by 9/17. But I don't know how or where to find or file one. Please help me. It's been I owe this & I owe that since divorce. It never ends. I apologize this is so long. Thank you for any help or information you can give.

[ebaines]

lorij - it sounds like when you were divorced you agreed to continue to be the primary on the loan for his car. I don't understand why you (or your lawyer) let that happen - does your divorce decree say anything at all about the disposition of the loan? So now the CU wants its money, and of course you are liable for it. You may want to call your divorce lawyer and ask if there's anything you can do. You may be able to sue your ex for reimbursement, but it sounds like even if you win you may not collect much from him.

[ScottGem]

Unfortunately, once you signed on the loan, you became responsible. Even if your divorce decree states that all debts are his responsibility the creditor does not have to honor it.

Small claims courts are fairly informal. Send the summons back with a letter stating your Intent to Defend with the reason that this is not your debt.

I don't know if that will fly when you get to a hearing, but its worth a try. If you have any proof that the debts went to him in the divorce, bring that to the hearing.

[lorij]

Thank goodness I just found my complete divorce decree. It states " the plaintiff shall have all rights, title and interest in said vehicles free and clar of any claim by defendant. Defendant agrees to sign title of explorer over to plaintiff. plaintiff shall take said vehicle subject to all encumbrances and hold harmless the defendant." What the decree says about the CU acount is "plaintiff shall retain individual checking account at CU."
The lawyer I had is no longer able to practice. (license was taken away, I think it is called disbarred?) how should I proceed ?

[AK lawyer]

... complete divorce decree. It states " the plaintiff ... shall take said vehicle subject to all encumbrances and hold harmless the defendant." ... how should i proceed ?

That means your ex has the responsibility, to you, to pay the vehicle loan. Since he didn't, you could bring him into the lawsuit as a third party defendant, and make him pay whatever judgment the plaintiff gets against you. And you could possibly get a supplemental judgment, in the original divorce action, against him in that amount. It would be up to you of course to collect it.

[ScottGem]

As I said, the divorce decree is not binding on the creditor. So you may lose against the CU. However, the decree is clear so you should be able to, as AK said, file and win a suit against your ex. But then you will have the same issues collecting as the CU has.

[lorij]

Thank you all for your help. I don't feel so powerless over this anymore. The only thing I'd like from my ex is to take some responsibility for the debt we had incurred while we were married. I just hope he doesn't do something like this to his new wife. Yes, he just got remarried; and No, I wasn't invited. ( I wonder why? I even offered to take the pictures! Hee hee.) I'll post what happens with everything. I thank you again. :)