Cosigner of auto lease CH7, what happens now to lease?

[brokemf]

I was a cosigner on an auto lease for a family member and filed CH7 which was discharged in 10/2019. I did not reaffirm on the lease and the family member is still making payments on the lease. The lease shows on my report as " included in CH7".

On the family members credit report, the loan still shows as "open", but does not show the positive payment history since the BK was discharged. Can I get the lender to post the lease payments on the credit report? Is the family member still responsible for making the payments? What would happen if the family member did not make the payments? Would their credit be affected?

[justbroke]

First, welcome to BKForum.

As for whether you can get the lender to report, that's up to the lender. I would guess that the lender would NOT report the payments. The reason is that you didn't reaffirm the lease and there is no contractual obligation. However, only the lender could really answer the question. You would need to ask them.

Your family member is responsible for the payments since they are (likely) the primary borrower on the contract and, even so, they are still legally obligated on the original note (loan). If the family member stopped paying, they would be responsible and the creditor can (and will likely) pursue them from a legal standpoint. Which brings up an important point. I personally would NOT allow the lender to start reporting on this discharged debt. If your family member stops paying, yet you gave the creditor authority to report missed payments and other payment history, then you would be affected. It actually "defeats" one of the secondary affects of a discharge; credit reporting.

[shipo]

Great information as always justbroke, thanks for chiming in, I never thought about it from that reporting perspective.

[brokemf]

I understand. The cosigner who filed CH7 signed on the loan for their 18 year old child. Could negative information still be reported on the child's credit file if payments are not made, even though the loan was not reaffirmed an discharged in the CH7?

[justbroke]

The child's credit file is their file. They would not receive any negative notations if they continue to pay on time.