Can I be held charged with car theft for a loan that was declined and the person named on the loan failed to return the car, if I was not on as a co-signer?
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Can I be held charged with car theft for a loan that was declined and the person named on the loan failed to return the car, if I was not on as a co-signer?
I recently went with a friend to co-sign with her on a car. The car salesman ran her credit and she was approved for the loan without me having to co-sign. When we went in to see the finance officer, the loan agreement forms were only in her name and she was the only one on the loan agreement. Then 3 weeks later, I received a call from the car lot saying the bank didn’t approve the loan and that she needed to return the car. She never did. I received a call from the county recovery unit a few days ago saying if she didn’t return the car we both would be charged with auto theft.
Asked on April 29, 2012 under Criminal Law, Texas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Non-owners or non-co-signors can be charged with car theft--after all, most car theives are not owners or signatories to a loan. All that matters is whether you participated in stealing the car. To charge you, there must be reasonable cause to think that you helped your friend obtain the car, take the car, hide the car, etc.--and moreover, that you did so with a criminal intent (i.e the intention to take the car without paying). To convict you, they would have to show this by evidence "beyond a reasonable doubt," which can be hard standard to meet, but not an impossible one--for example, consider what happens if your friend turns on you and testifies that stealing the car was all your idea, in order to try to secure herself less of a penalty?
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