My ex finance is ruining my credit - I don't know what to do.?

I used to work for a bank and they told me that if I ever wanted to buy a house, i should build up my fiance's credit because he had NO credit at all. Well, stupid me got him a $5000 line of credit and a $1000 credit card, and then they raised the limit...he maxed it out..long story short, we are broken up now and he wracked up $13,000 worth of freakin' debt in both of our names! He was paying the minimum for a long time, and then, lo-and-behold, he knocked up his new gf, so now he expects me to pay everything. I have a notorized contract between he and i that confirms that he made all the charges - but he has no assets or property. The contract says i can garnish from his wages, but cant he get around it? im not even sure WHAT kind of lawyer i should go to in the first place, and if i should try to consolidate the loan and pay off as much of it as i can, or if i should save money for a lawyer. I cant even take it to small claims because it's over $5000. PLS HELP!

The law says that a person needs to take at least $177 a week home that no one can touch. He is such an ****** that i know he'd rather work under-the-table or only for $177 a week just to get around it. Brother. The things you do when you have LOW SELF-ESTEEM! Believe me, I know a LOT better now, guys, but I had a lot of soul searching to do! The other question is about the payment - his parents (who refuse to help sign a loan to get it out of my name, but back me up that he is a loser and cheat) said there might be a way to get the court to force the credit card company to take my name off and bill him. Is that true? We applied to have his name taken off last year but his credit is too bad to do it.

If you both went into the credit willingly, i.e. so long as he did not forge your name, you're stuck. You are both jointly and individually, responsible for the entire debt. The agreement between you and he is not binding on a lender, remember the lender relied on your credit in order to extend the loan. There is no way, at this point, the lender is going to let anyone off the hook.

The only way to save your credit is to make sure the bill gets paid every month. If the only way to make this happen is for you personally to make the payment every month, that's what you need to do to save your credit rating.

You may, perhaps with the help of an attorney, attempt to recoup the payments you make from him. However, if he truly has nothing, and has no inclination to pay, you'll probably end up spending more money attempting to collect than you'll ever get.

To garnish wages, you must first sue him, get a judgment against him, allow him time to appeal, and then pursue the garnishment with the help of an attorney. If he switches jobs, you'll have to find out where he's now working, and go back to your attorney. Note that many states do not allow garnishment for civil debts, and some make it so difficult and cumbersome, it's much more expensive than it's worth.

Basically, your best chance is to try and shame him and irritate him into paying at least some of it. You have to accept that you either need to pay it or accept that your credit will be badly damaged. I seriously doubt any attorney will do any more than add to your problems by accepting fees that will never pay for themselves. Now if he had assets, that'd be a different story. With no assets, it's very hard to force someone to pay. How many people do you know that had credit cards or medical bills they never paid for? Do these creditors run out and hire attorneys? No, because it's usually useless and a waste of money, and the big companies know that.

I've spent the last 20 years in retail credit and collections, and I've seen this story happen many many times. I doubt you were the first one he did this to.

Someone was arguing with me early about the difference between being married and just living together. They really didn't see the importance of that legal little piece of paper. I hope she reads this question.
See if your county has a legal aid service that you can call and ask some basic questions about your rights and what you need to do. This is a free service offered by most counties.

I'm not sure why you say that you think he can get by or around having his wages garnished. If that's the case, I think I would hire a lawyer if for nothing else than to keep tabs on this guy and make sure his wages are monitored and that his employer is aware of how much money he owes. He really did you dirty. Please be more careful in the future.

Send the deadbeat a 10 day demand letter. Courteously notify him that he owes you $13000, as evidenced by your notarized agreement. Notify him that unless he either pays or comes to a mutually agreeable repayment program in 10 days that you will be forced to obtain the services of an attorney and seed relief for the debt as well as any and all costs of collecting such debt. If he refuses, get a lawyer, have him sued for the legal fees and credit card debt, do a discovery on his personal assets, and garnish his wages for the next 20 years or until he pays. You will need to get a judgment because you can't garnish his wages without one.

Debt consolidation is probably the option. Go to http://mortgage.yeyeyup.com, click on the "advisory" link and let a professional help you as regards debt consolidation options.
You may also think of always checking if your relationship is about money or love before taking risks!

I hate to say it but you're pretty much stuck with these debts he racked up.

I wish I had better news for you.

Never trust a cute face and a smile. That boy is POISON!!! He's dangerous!

Honestly, it couldn't hurt to talk to a lawyer that oversees Civil Cases and get his thoughts, but remember, you are waaay too important to over-invest yourself with this toxic person. Talk to the lawyer and see if you can garnish your ex-fiance wages. If you can garnish him -- do it! When you mess with what little finance he has, I am sure his new girlfriend will mess with him too. The last time I looked -- baby formula is NOT CHEAP!

The best way to a man's head is THROUGH his GIRLFRIEND!

On another note, you need to revise a payment plan to pay back the debt assuming your trifling-ex will become a by-any-means-necessary son-of-a-gun to avoid paying you. Debt consolidation is an option.

Also, remember this, what you did is basically created a situation where you co-signed your ex-fiance credit line.

And co-signing debts typically is a recipe for disaster.

Good luck.