Put rental in her name,will written contract hold b/f liable in court?

Question

A close friend of mine had been living w/her b/f for over 1 yr; they decided to purchase a Rent-To-Own couch-under her name. His credit wasn't as good as hers, and signed a written agreement that if they split, he would be held liable with payments-$ owed-on the couch. She's not sure whether she should've put it under her name b/c she's worried in worst case scenario, he stops paying and her credit gets ruined. Is there any way in which she can protect herself?

Answer 1

unless she can get his name taken off, she should just pay if off as quickly as possible..and have her sign up for the freecycle group!

Answer 2

Rent-to-owns do show up on credit reports when they are in default.
If they split up, who gets the couch?
Having possession of the couch is going to be a big question if this goes to court. If he has the couch, then she can enforce through small-claims for his half of the payment per contract. If she has the couch, then the court will not side with her and she would have to sell the couch at FAIR market value and could only sue him for half of the difference.

Answer 3

if its written then he is liable. Did she keep a copy of that? It should hold up in court but you would have to go to court and deal with the rent to own people. If you split up then take the couch back to the rent to own store.

Answer 4

She's the one legally responsible, so if they split, she, not he, would be liable for the payments to the rental company. If he doesn't pay, their signed agreement might let her sue him in small claims court, but the rental company isn't bound by it.

Answer 5

If it was a valid written contract where he said he would still pay, then I don't see how she can get in trouble here. However, that is unlikely the case, and if something does happen, yes, it will be her head on the line.

Answer 6

whoever has the name on the account is legally responsible for the bill.