Bankruptcy-married person (Washington state)?Hello. I am a married woman. I helped my brother and his gf co-sign a commerical lease. The business went belly up. The builder owner is going after me for breaking the lease...over 100K. I am not on the business license, just co-signed on the lease. During that time, my brother's gf took out credit cards,... | |
Sorry to hear this mess.
1. Get an attorney right away. You need a legal expert to protect your rights, stop the problems, and go after the criminals.
2. Basically, if you co-sign anything and the primary fails to pay, you are generally liable.
3. The gf may be criminally liable for credit card and identity defraud. She will be going to jail.
"Violation of this section when the accused or an accomplice uses the victim's means of identification or financial information and obtains an aggregate total of credit, money, goods, services, or anything else of value in excess of $1,500 in value shall constitute identity theft in the first degree. Identity theft in the first degree is a class B felony.
Violation of this section when the accused or an accomplice uses the victim's means of identification or financial information and obtains an aggregate total of credit, money, goods, services, or anything else of value that is less than $1,500 in value, or when no credit, money, goods, services, or anything of value is obtained shall constitute identity theft in the second degree. Identity theft in the second degree is a class C felony."
--- Washington State, SS 9.35.001 to 9.35-902
Source:
http://ncsl.org/programs/lis/privacy...
The attorney will do all this: Contact the banks and tell them what happened that you did not authorize this credit taken out in your name, that you identity was stolen by this person. Give them whatever info you have on her and the banks will go after her like a vulture after fresh dead meat.
4. You may not have to file BK and I would use that as a last resort. One of the attorneys you need to consult with is an asset protection attorney.
5. File a police report for the identity theft. Give them whatever info you have on the girl.
6. Retirement plans are often protected from a BK, it depends on the state laws in where you live. Attorney will advise you here.
7. If you claim ID Theft and you gave no permission or had any knowledge of the CC's that were taken out in your name, the bank will have a hard time coming after you for the money.
8. Take a strong stance. If a bank or collection creditor threatens to come after you for the money when fraud was involved, tell them that you were a victim of ID theft, you filed a police report (which you are going to do right?) and that if they continue to harass you you will counter sue and report them.
This is where you really need an aggressive attorney.
You may have some problems with the co-sign lease, but a good attorney will deal with this. Don't make any statements without an attorney representing you now.
Attorney Search - State Bar Association
http://google.com/search?hl=en&clien...
Good Luck!
Im sorry to hear about this tragedy, but im my opinion, if you file for bankruptcy, your husband will be affected, your credit scores will soar down even though he did not cosign or anything, the fact that your married will affect your significant other. Thats what financial advisor Suze Orman said, if you are married and one files bor bankruptcy, it will affect the other.
Hi,
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