Can a cosigner's wages be garnished when a car is repossessed?

Answer 1

It depends on your state's laws. Here is a great site - www.fair-debt-collection.com. They list all the laws in each state. I can tell you that in Florida, since it has happened to me, they can come after the co-signer. Typically though it has to be because the original signer has protected themselves from debt collection, either by certain legal claims (ex.. Head of Household) or they have filed Bankruptcy and you are the only one left for the creditor to attack. My original signers filed Bankruptcy and then I was the one they came after. I was lucky because they did garnish my wages a few times, but I filed for Head of Household and they could no longer take my wages. And since I did file the courts were holding the money that my company was taking from my check and I received a check from my company for the whole amount once the HOH was officially declared. Which helped because I then was able to negotiate a settlement for about 12% of the original debt since they knew there was no other way to get it out of me. To file for Head of Household is different then Head of Household for your federal taxes. On your taxes I think your spouse can only make a small amount of money, whereas for my situation I just had to make more than my spouse, regardless of how much she makes. Meaning should could make $50,000 a year but I would be HOH if I made more. Sorry for rambling on. Hope this helps.