Co-signer

I am not sure if I did this right yesterday. I bought a car in TN last August(1999). I needed a co-signer so my step-father co-signed with me. I made the down payment and every payment after that for one year. One month i had asked him to come with me to sell my car because I couldn't afford that months payment. He refused saying he would rather keep the car in the family then sell it. So he made the payment for that month. While I was moving to college, he took my car and used it as a trade-in on a car for himself in Alabama. I was unaware he was planning on selling or that he had sold it. I signed no paper work releasing my name from the contract. The dealer told my mother that she could sign in my place. My question is how valid is the sale of the car without my signature on any of the paper work? I was 18 when i bought the car and 19 when he sold it. Thank you, furious in TN

I am a law school graduate. What I offer is mere information, not to be construed as forming an attorney client relationship.

Basically, your mom committed a forgery. Not to mention the person who authorized your mom to do this committed a fraud.

The sale is voidable. But since the car is sold (you cannot retrieve from a good faith purchaser if sold to some person), you can collect the value of the car or more from the dealer.

Talk to an attorney. Some offer free consultations. Try attorneypages.com

OR......find the better business bureau in your county.
[url="http://www.bbb.com"]www.bbb.com[/url]

Dear Carless;

Listen to Lawrat. Tennessee and Alabama have very strict laws regarding the sale of vehicles. I would be willing to bet, the reason your step-dad went across the state line is because he knew this.

If you were the primary buyer, and your step-father only co-signed for the loan, this is considered theft, in addition to fraud. Contact the district attorney for the county where the car was sold. If this dealer has a history of such practices, there could be a big price to pay for his actions.

Good luck to you. I hope you recover enough to buy a corvette!