without all the gory details, my wife's brother borrowed about 800 dollars from me, asked for me to sign the lease for his house and then moved out and disappeared. I realize I was an idiot.
I recently received a letter from the Ohio courts saying that he is declaring bankruptcy and listing my name as one of the people he owes money too. What is going to happen? The thing that baffles me is that there is almost no paper trail from the money I owe him so it doesn't make sense that he would list my name, right? I don't know anything about this stuff, I pay my debts and am conservative with my money and have NEVER had to deal with this.
Basically, what does this mean to me? Nothing, right?
2007-12-16 05:56:43 · 6 answers · asked by dirk daggerknife 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Personal Finance
I paid the rent for the month he moved out on and worked out a deal (at great cost to myself) to close out the lease with the landlord.
I am a recent college graduate and just starting out financially myself. I am very inexperienced when it comes to this stuff.
2007-12-16 06:18:25 · update #1
Now you have proof that he acknowleges that he owes you money. I know the bankruptcy laws have changed, but, last I knew you couldn't file an individual on your bankruptcy, just bank lenders. Now keep that piece of paper stating that he knows he owes you the money and file a claim in small claim court to get your money.
oh, and about the lease.... you co-signed so they can come after you for the money owed for rent and any damages, if they haven't already....
2007-12-16 06:17:19 · answer #1 · answered by Family 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No, you won't get the money back. He's putting you on legal notice that he won't. (You now have tiny non-business bad debt--if the bankruptcy is granted, you can claim this on the 1040 schedule D.)
Separate question, what the heck is going on with the lease? You appear to have cosigned for the rent which means the owner can come after you for the money (which is NOT a "bad debt").
2007-12-16 06:09:13 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
He listed you as a creditor. Since you have an unsecured debt the most you can do is file a proof of claim, IF the court sent you such a form. Otherwise you don't do anything, you just never get to collect the debt because it will be discharged.
2007-12-18 17:08:32 · answer #3 · answered by Lesley 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You might be able to sue him for the lease settlement costs but even if you do sue him, chances are you won't see any of the money.
Mark this all up to an expensive lesson. Never co-sign anything for someone you are not legally married to and never lend money to friends or relatives.
2007-12-16 06:24:54 · answer #4 · answered by bdancer222 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if your name is listed with the court you will get 5 or 10% of your money.
2007-12-16 06:10:04 · answer #5 · answered by Jerry 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think it means that you aren't going to get your money back. Which proves that you should never loan money to friends or relatives!
2007-12-16 06:03:03 · answer #6 · answered by kehlygirl 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋