Co-signing may seem like a good idea when your friend or relative calls and asks for help getting a loan. Helping out someone in need always make you feel good, but, you know what they say, "No good deed goes unpunished."
If it sounds like I'm saying co-signing is a bad thing, I am. When you co-sign on a loan for someone else, you're not just helping them get a loan. You're saying if that person defaults on their loan payments, you'll pick up the slack. As a co-signer, you probably won't realize the other person has missed loan payments until the lender calls and tells you. By this time, the loan could be a few months delinquent, costing you more to bring it to date.
Lenders can sue you for loans you co-signed, even if it's a car loan and you don't have possession of the car. Getting sued might sound like the worst of it, but there are more reasons you shouldn't co-sign.
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what is guaranteed?