Ex-wife 'blesses' me with a chargeoff - now what?

[griffin]

Ex wife took a car that was financed in both our names under the divorce agreement, drives it to the other side of the country and 6 months later stops paying for it and gets it repossessed.

Bank sells the car for nothing and leave a balance of $11,700 on the account which of course she won't pay.

Now I have a chargoff-bad debt on my report.

How can I get this removed?

[Trish]

What do you mean "financed in both our names under the divorce agreement"?
Do you mean that it was listed as BOTH of you being responsible for it in your divorce decree?

[griffin]

Sorry. I mean when we bought the car on finance I co-signed on the loan.

When we filed for divorce, she agreed to take the car and the responsibility for payment, this was in October 2008. She drove the car to her new home in PA from CA where I still live. She stopped making payments on the Car in May 2009 and it was repossessed in August/September.

[Trish]

Did she by any chance take your name off of it? or refinance in her name only?
If not......then I'm afraid it's your burden too.

Which means it is going to be VERY difficult to have the CO removed. You can try disputing it with the CRAs. It never hurts to try.
What I would be more worried about is a lawsuit. With a charge off amount that size.......they are going to come after you (probably both of you).

I had a repossession turn into a charge off......which eventually led to a judgment and the amount literally doubled. So it may be in your best interest to talk to your ex wife and see if there is any way she (or both of you) can pay this off before it gets any worse.

[griffin]

Nope she didn't do he decent thing and actually take responsibility for what she wanted and now as in my marriage her actions are costing me money and hurting my situation.

[CreditCrisis]

Griffin: sorry to hear about your situation. Have you tried calling the finance company? If you have your divorce agreement that plainly states that she will be the responsible party for the vehicle, you can send them that and in California, they will remove you from the responsibility which includes, removing it from you credit.

i would start there. or if you dont want to call, just make a few copies of the page of your divorce that states that she will be responsible and send it along with a short letter explianing your situation to all three credit bureaus as well as the finance company. may take up to 60 days, but you should be removed as baring any ownership.

[Trish]

You can try that........but unfortunately most cc companies and/or CRAs do not honor a divorce decree.

The only way (that I have found) they will consider you not financially responsible for the debt is if you have your name removed from the loan completely......and usually the only way to do that is to refinance WITHOUT the other party.

[griffin]

I decided to throw it to my lawyer and get him to draft a letter to them offering $2,000 to settle the debt in my name and report everything as paid up and closed with a bunch of conditions attached...

* They will consider the debt as paid in full
* The account will be closed in good standing
* They can't/won't sell, give away, trade or otherwise collect any remaining debt from me
* They can't report the debt at any time in the future
* They can't/won't 1099 me for the difference forgiven
* They will report the new positive status of the account to all 3 credit reporting agencies removing any negative record.

See if they bite

[Trish]

Good idea.... and good luck!
Keep us posted.