Shortly before my son's father and I split up (we weren't married) in January of 2009, he talked me into buying a van with him. He needed me to sign the loan because he didn't have good enough credit to do it himself. I know, I know... worst decision I ever made, but at the time he had custody of his two kids and with a baby on the way (I was in my first trimester), he convinced me that we needed a larger family vehicle. I was already thinking of leaving him at that point, but was terrified of being a single mother, so I hadn't made up my mind yet... he convinced me that if we were to split up, it would be an easy thing to just transfer the van over into his name. (I was very naive at the time, so I believed him.)
Well, I finally made up my mind and ended the relationship. And after that, everything went downhill. He absolutely refused to refinance the van under his name, because it would bump the interest rate from 11% to 24% and he didn't want to deal with that. However, because I couldn't afford the van payments by myself, he said that he would keep paying.
And he has kept his word, for the most part... except every payment he makes is 30-45 days late. Amarillo National Bank calls me EVERY SINGLE MONTH at 30 days past due to ask for the payment, and I redirect them to him, and he pays them 10-15 days later. Any time I've gotten onto him about it, he says "You can't squeeze blood out of a turnip."
He acts like it's an issue with money, but I KNOW he's doing it on purpose. He no longer has custody of his other two kids, and he got tired of getting made fun of for driving a "mommy-vehicle", so he went out and bought himself a Mercedes. He now has TWO vehicles, and I bet you anything he makes the payments on time for the Mercedes.
Not only that, but it occurred to me that the down payment for the Mercedes was probably at least what is still owed on the van (5k). That upsets me! So, I'm pretty sure that he was very much able to pay off the van before purchasing a new car... and he chose not to.
My credit has been reported over 20 times because of this!!!
He brings home over $5,000 a month. He pays me $700 a month in child support (beginning last month), he pays his ex-wife $910... But even with his child support payments, he still has enough to live off AND make the van payments on time! Why the heck won't he? And why, if he just happened to have enough for a downpayment on a new car laying around, did he not pay off that van first?! You would think he'd want to, since I'm yelling at him about it all the time.
Another thing: He wants me to take over the van payments now that I'm getting child support. Uh... no? I don't make anything CLOSE to $60k a year like he does... I need that support money for my son!!
By the way, before you suggest this, I have tried to sell the van, but no one will take it.
Anyway. I'm convinced he's ruining my credit on purpose. Since there is now [kinda] proof (because of the down payment on the Mercedes) that he has the money to be making the payments on time (or even could have paid off the van before he bought the Mercedes), is there ANYTHING I can do? Do judges even care when someone is ruining someone else's credit on purpose?
I feel like this is completely out of my hands.
Can I take him to court to sue to damages to my credit? What can I do to fix this situation?
Well, I finally made up my mind and ended the relationship. And after that, everything went downhill. He absolutely refused to refinance the van under his name, because it would bump the interest rate from 11% to 24% and he didn't want to deal with that. However, because I couldn't afford the van payments by myself, he said that he would keep paying.
And he has kept his word, for the most part... except every payment he makes is 30-45 days late. Amarillo National Bank calls me EVERY SINGLE MONTH at 30 days past due to ask for the payment, and I redirect them to him, and he pays them 10-15 days later. Any time I've gotten onto him about it, he says "You can't squeeze blood out of a turnip."
He acts like it's an issue with money, but I KNOW he's doing it on purpose. He no longer has custody of his other two kids, and he got tired of getting made fun of for driving a "mommy-vehicle", so he went out and bought himself a Mercedes. He now has TWO vehicles, and I bet you anything he makes the payments on time for the Mercedes.
Not only that, but it occurred to me that the down payment for the Mercedes was probably at least what is still owed on the van (5k). That upsets me! So, I'm pretty sure that he was very much able to pay off the van before purchasing a new car... and he chose not to.
My credit has been reported over 20 times because of this!!!
He brings home over $5,000 a month. He pays me $700 a month in child support (beginning last month), he pays his ex-wife $910... But even with his child support payments, he still has enough to live off AND make the van payments on time! Why the heck won't he? And why, if he just happened to have enough for a downpayment on a new car laying around, did he not pay off that van first?! You would think he'd want to, since I'm yelling at him about it all the time.
Another thing: He wants me to take over the van payments now that I'm getting child support. Uh... no? I don't make anything CLOSE to $60k a year like he does... I need that support money for my son!!
By the way, before you suggest this, I have tried to sell the van, but no one will take it.
Anyway. I'm convinced he's ruining my credit on purpose. Since there is now [kinda] proof (because of the down payment on the Mercedes) that he has the money to be making the payments on time (or even could have paid off the van before he bought the Mercedes), is there ANYTHING I can do? Do judges even care when someone is ruining someone else's credit on purpose?
I feel like this is completely out of my hands.
Can I take him to court to sue to damages to my credit? What can I do to fix this situation?
