Advice about debt for someone else's apartment because my name wasn't taken off lease

[RippedWings]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana

So I lived in an apartment complex in florida with my father last year.. Because I was 18, I had to have my name on the lease to live there. The apartment manager assurred me that it was only for legal reasons, my father and his girlfriend, who were both on the lease, were still listed as the primary account holders for the apartment. Anyways, I moved for personal reasons in January 2007. I had to move quickly and didn't have the extra 400$ to pay to take my name off the lease. I just left.

I recently viewed one of those free credit reports and found a 4000$ collection from the apartments, which started in November 2008. It says I have a joint account with my father. Now because of this my credit looks horrible, and I wasn't even living there. I can prove I was living and working in Colorado. Is there any way to get this taken off? Should I take him to some kind of civil court and get the whole thing placed in his name? Or am I just stuck with it?

Is there any way to

[RippedWings]

I should mention that I have NOT gotten any phone calls/letters or any notifications from them. I only looked up my credit report because I am getting married later this year and I applied for a few jewelry credit cards to pay for my fiancee's ring, only to be left confused as to why I got turned down since I really didn't have any type of credit, good or bad.

[Antigone*of*Greece]

Originally Posted by RippedWings

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana

So I lived in an apartment complex in florida with my father last year.. Because I was 18, I had to have my name on the lease to live there. The apartment manager assurred me that it was only for legal reasons, my father and his girlfriend, who were both on the lease, were still listed as the primary account holders for the apartment. Anyways, I moved for personal reasons in January 2007. I had to move quickly and didn't have the extra 400$ to pay to take my name off the lease. I just left.

I recently viewed one of those free credit reports and found a 4000$ collection from the apartments, which started in November 2008. It says I have a joint account with my father. Now because of this my credit looks horrible, and I wasn't even living there. I can prove I was living and working in Colorado. Is there any way to get this taken off? Should I take him to some kind of civil court and get the whole thing placed in his name? Or am I just stuck with it?

Is there any way to

Guess you shouldn't have just left. Now it seems that you'll have to pay for your mistake. You will want to contact the collection agency and make arrangements to pay the debt before it increases due to interest.

[RippedWings]

Am I stuck with the whole amount? Isn't he obligated to pay some of it?

[Antigone*of*Greece]

Originally Posted by RippedWings

Am I stuck with the whole amount? Isn't he obligated to pay some of it?

You are stuck for the whole amount and more...the sooner you get it taken care of, the less it will cost you.

Call the collection agency and try to negotiate ~ be very nice about it and see if they will settle for less. You being proactive about the debt is much better than being reactive.

take care, ana

[debtcollector`]

Originally Posted by RippedWings

Am I stuck with the whole amount? Isn't he obligated to pay some of it?

Sure. Sue him

DC

[RippedWings]

Thank you both for the advice. I think I'm going to get a lawyer's advice before I take any actions though.

[scampf]

Didn't that just happen?

[RippedWings]

I mean someone who actually knows the full case and details personally, and can talk me through it in Real Life. Thanks for asking, though.