Budgeting Managing Your Debt What Happens When the Person You Co-signed for Doesn't Pay? By LaToya Irby LaToya Irby LaToya Irby is a credit expert who has been covering credit and debt management for The Balance for more than a dozen years. She's been quoted in USA Today, The Chicago Tribune, and the Associated Press, and her work has been cited in several books. learn about our editorial policies Updated on April 21, 2022 Reviewed by Margaret James Reviewed by Margaret James Peggy James is an expert in accounting, corporate finance, and personal finance. She is a certified public accountant who owns her own accounting firm, where she serves small businesses, nonprofits, solopreneurs, freelancers, and individuals. learn about our financial review board In This Article View All In This Article You're Responsible for the Debt You May Be Sued Try to Catch Up on the Payments Refinance or Consolidate the Loan Ask for a Cosigner Release File for Bankruptcy Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Photo: Pawel Gaul / Getty Images A family member or friend may ask you to co-sign a loan for them—to get a house, buy a car, obtain a credit card, or rent an apartment—and you agree. In an ideal situation, the person you co-signed for makes all the payments on time, abides by the agreement, and the loan is paid off with no hiccups. Another possibility is that this family member or friend defaults on the payments. Worse, you may not find out that the loan has gone into default until the account is severely delinquent and a lump sum is needed to get caught up again. Such a delinquency will show up on your credit report and affect your credit. You are held just as liable for the loan as the person you co-signed for. You would not only have to assume the payments but deal with your lowered credit score at the same time. You're Responsible for the Debt When you co-sign a loan, you’re not merely offering up your credit history for approval purposes. You’re agreeing to assume responsibility for the debt if the other person cannot make the payments. Because you're agreeing to be responsible for the loans you co-signed, you face all the consequences of missed payments or loan defaults. It's the same as if you'd defaulted on a loan you took out on your own. Note Because you are liable for the loan payments, your credit is also at risk. Any loans and credit cards you’ve co-signed for will be listed on your credit report. Also, late payments will be listed and included in your credit score. The fact that you only co-signed for the loan doesn’t matter. If possible, ask the lender to notify you if the main borrower misses a payment. Of course, it may already be too late. You May Be Sued The lender can file a lawsuit against you for any unpaid part of the debt, even if they don't sue the person you co-signed for. Or they may sell your debt to a collection agency, who then tries to get back as much as they can by suing you. Even if you were never contacted for payment, these actions will go on your credit record and follow you for the duration of the credit reporting time limit, except in states where notices to the co-signer are required by law. Note If the lender wins the lawsuit, a judgment will be entered against you. If you can’t satisfy the judgment in full, the lender or collector can file to have your wages garnished until the debt is paid in full. Try to Catch Up on the Payments Unfortunately, once the other person has started missing payments, your options for dealing with a defaulted co-signed loan are limited. If the loan payments are behind, but the loan hasn’t defaulted yet, you can prevent more severe actions by catching up on the payments yourself. To protect your credit and prevent a lawsuit, you may have to cover the monthly payments until the person you co-signed for can start making payments on their own. Refinance or Consolidate the Loan Depending on the other person’s credit history, they may be able to refinance or consolidate the loan so that it’s in their name only. However, if they’re already behind on payments, the odds of them being able to qualify for their own loan are slim. Should the other co-signer choose to file bankruptcy and the co-signed account is discharged, the lender may still hold you liable for the remainder of the balance. Note Since you'll be responsible for ensuring that payments continue, you may be able to refinance or consolidate the loan yourself if that will result in a lower, more affordable monthly payment. Ask for a Cosigner Release Sometimes, a lender may allow for a cosigner to be released from the loan agreement if the original borrower successfully makes a number of consecutive, timely payments. If that borrower is deemed likely to continue to make payments, the lender may agree to release you from the loan. It's worth checking to see if your lender offers this possibility, but even if so, it will require the person you cosigned for to turn their finances around and make the payments as agreed. File for Bankruptcy If you wind up in a situation where the loan you co-signed for overwhelms your finances, you might choose to file for bankruptcy. It's an extreme solution, with long-ranging consequences, including a lowered credit score and difficulty obtaining future loans, not to mention higher interest rates. Your personal property may be required to be sold off as well. You may wish to consult a bankruptcy attorney to determine whether this is the right step or whether there are other avenues you haven't explored yet. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Can I sue the person I co-signed for if they don't pay? Yes, you can sue the person you co-signed for if they don't make the payments they promised to make. You may be able to get a judgment against them in court, but it could be hard to collect on that money, since they didn't pay the debt in the first place. What's the difference between a co-borrower and a co-signer? A co-borrower applies for credit equally with another person, but a co-signer is used to help borrowers get credit who can't get it on their own. Co-borrowers expect to be responsible for paying back the money they borrow, but co-signers sign a financial agreement with the idea that the person they are co-signing for will be responsible for paying back the debt. What credit score do you need to be a co-signer? Credit score will vary, depending on the lender, but typically a co-signer must have a credit score of at least 670. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit Sources The Balance uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Minnesota State Attorney. "Cosigning a Loan." Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "What Is a Co-signer?" Federal Trade Commission. "Co-signing a Loan." Michigan Department of Attorney General. "Cosigning a Loan? Know the Risks!" Federal Trade Commission. "Complying With the Credit Practices Rule," Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "CFPB Finds 90 Percent of Private Student Loan Borrowers who Applied for Co-Signer Release Were Rejected," National Consumer Law Center. "Deciding Whether to File for Bankruptcy: Consumer Debt Advice from NCLC," Experian. "What Credit Score Does a Cosigner Need?"