Can someone file a lawsuit against me even though the contract we signed is 9 years old?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Can someone file a lawsuit against me even though the contract we signed is 9 years old?
My brother took a car loan under his name for me but made me sign a “personal contract” that didn’t specify what the $11,886 was for. It just said that he will charge me interest if I default on it. We both signed and it was notarized. I put the downpayment money on the car and I used to deposit the monthly payments into his checking account so that he could make the payments. A few months later he sold the car to satisfy the loan because he said he couldn’t trust me. The contract was signed 9 years ago. Now he is trying to sue me for the money, can he do that? Hasn’t too much time passed?
Asked on August 18, 2011 Nebraska
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
In this country, anyone can file a lawsuit against a person or entity. The issue is whether liability and damages can be established. In your situation, your brother obtained a loan for a car in his name, but the car was for you. Apparently the car loan was for $11,886.00. You signed an agreement with him concerning this $11,886.00 amount.
You placed the down payment for the vehicle and deposited the monthly installmants for the vehicle that was yours in your brother's checking account for him to make the car's payments to the lender.
If you were current on the car's payments under your agreement with your brother, I do not understand the basis allowing him to sell your car and then sue you for the difference for what it was sold for and what was owing on the loan.
Your brother can sue you because the damages he will claim he incurred only happened recently upon the sale of the vehicle.
You seem to have a defense of paying any amount claimed if you were current on all payments when the car was sold.
Good luck.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.