If your wife co-sigend the loan, then she became a responsible party. It doesn't matter if it was for a month or 6 months. She put her name on the paper and that brought her into the picture. Depending on who signed the document, she may be on the hook for the whole thing. Do you know that the ex bf did NOT sign the lease?

Can they seek a judgement against you? They can seek a judgement against all assets that your wife has ownership/rights to, some of which may be jointly 'owned' by the both of you. I find it interesting that you seem most interested in leaving your wife to hang out to dry and are more concerned with your own personal money than her welfare. If you married her 'for richer, for poorer', shouldn't you step in and help instead of looking for ways to protect your own savings account? You say that she cosigned without your knowledge, but you are 'past that point now'. I don't think you really are past it.

i do understand your concerns. Its not about saving your own assets and leaving your wife to hang and dry! For better or worse is with her not her grown kids who screw up!!!!
They have a month to claim right?, well your wife put her name on that paper and yes she will be held responsible. Is there a way to save your money from the collectors? YES. Place the joint account soley under your name or split into two , one each for you both. Its simple. This way your cash is not touched, and the new house purchased is not totally in danger. You can also place the car and house under your name to protect against the collectors.
You are not hanging your wife to dry, you are saving what you have together from the collectors because of a stupid error and immature action of her daughter and her boyfriend!
Do what you can to save the stuff you have together by placing it under your name. Let your wife sign over to you. Then help her pay off the balance without endangering the house or the car.
Good luck

sd42, I don't know if this will make you feel any better, but I have experienced the same thing as you have. I did some checking and found out that since DH and I have joint accounts with our assets it meant I was just a responsible as him. What an upsetting issue and how hard on a marriage. I can fully understand how you feel that you should not be responsible for adult step children's mismanagement of money. I felt that way because I had no say in anything they did or were involved in, however, when it comes to finances I am suppose to put forward or scrafice our combined income. The step kids give me no respect and ignore me at times but feel DH should bail them out whenever they mismanage money or don't get jobs to support themselves to help out a little. I believe alot of the fault lies on DH for being to easy and not allow his kids to grow up and be responsible. We have gone around and around and have agreed to disagree on this. Best of luck

IMMEDIATELY look up that state's laws on rental property, and have your wife contact the rental company. And who all signed the lease? They are probably "jointly and severally liable" ... meaning the LLD can go after one or all of you for the whole amount.

The landlord probably has to make a "good faith" effort to find a new tenant. They can't just sit back and collect rent on an empty apt.

I recommend you get your daughter back in there and tell her to find some roomies ... collect up front each month via a deposit into a "house account" that pays rent and utilities for the group.

You can find a new tenant ... and in the future, make sure that ALL parents of the involved kids are co-signers.

I was a property manager at one point in SC. While bill collectors do frequently threaten to file suit, the truth of the matter is it is more costly to them and the chances of the judgement actually being satisified aren't much. If you contact the complex and speak with someone, offer to settle the debt for a lower amount (most collectors will accept as little as 70% of the actual amount owed) and be done with it. Regardless of your financial stuff, it will leave a mark on your wife's credit for the next 7 years if you don't.

Problems like these are the prime example why i do not have a joint account with my husband and never will. Money is statistically one of the main reasons couples fight. Plus with a divorcee, the cash going out can be for things not meant for both of you. Meaning, he has responsibilities to pay and i understand that. But i want to be the one to shell out the cash if I WANT TO...not because I HAVE TO. There are many times when he did not have cash to spend and take them to movies. At times i would treat them but if i was low that week, it was just too bad.
I do not believe in having joint accounts with a divorced man and this is one of the main reasons. He or she may want to help their kids. That's fine. But that is his or her decision and if i dont want to be part of it, at least i'm not forced in that manner.
Remove the joint account and have separate accounts. THis is not an insult to the relationship. I find some people have an issue with this. Its not based on greed. Its based on unpredictability of situations and people. And maybe you would need the financial help one day to fall back on if your spouse crashes and burns because of a situation like this.
Find out the laws, REMOVE ALL JOINT ACCOUNTs. Find that daughter and get her back in there!!! PRONTO! Post a sign up for an apartment for rent and get them in with your stepdaughter. There are always people looking for a place. There is no excuse for her to up and go. Teach her responsibility. GO after her!
sarajk is right...there is usually alot of warning letters and nagging but low chance of them coming immediate. So you have soem time on your hands. Contact the building manager , explain the situation and chase that girl down! If she doesn't come around...your wife will pay. But help her if you can. She is your partner. Once this is settled, NO money or signature are to be ever given to that girl again!

I appreciate everyone's input, well most everyone except the first person to respond who "assumed" something that was not the case. I wasn't hanging my wife out but was asking some questions that she was curious about as well.

The situation, as far as the financial part of it has been resolved. The appt. complex contacted us to say they had someone to lease it and wanted to move in immediately, which took the balance down. But the kicker is they couldn't reach his parents (her ex-bf) because they are acting like deadbeats, so I just paid it in full. It wasn't as much as it could have been, and it gets it behind us. I asked that they mail us a letter basically stating that she is released from the lease. So hopefully this will all be over.

Now the thing is my wife understands do NOT cosign with children on loans. I have two boys of my own, one who is a young adult. I bought him a car and he didn't treat it well, so after about a year and half his mother co-signed with him on a car which doesn't have a good track record. I would not. When your needs are basic transportation, why get a 1 yr old car? But that's another story.

My step-daughter was appreciative in her response, but I don't expect it will last long. When we first got married I took on and paid off over 5K in credit card debt that her other had incurred on this daughter's behalf. Now that is a thing of the past because there is no more use of credit cards for the kids. So, all of this is a work in progress.

Again, thanks everyone for the good advice.

I have a philosophy in life - never loan what you can't afford to give away permanently. When cosigning for a child, assume the worst up front and hope for the best.

I think there is an added issue, and that is that we spoil and give our children too much these days. What happened to dorm rooms? The work ethic and all that?

Trust me, I've been through all of this in spades. My own new husband didn't just co-sign for an apt, he bought his medical student daughter a 3-story condo, and he is not a wealthy man. She treated him with disrespect and with a sense of entitlement. There's been a lot of working through things regarding her in our first year of marriage, and thankfully, a lot of parenting adjustments on her father's part to regain balance in life. The daughter expected her father to co-sign on her first home once she's a doctor, but that will never happen, now. Once a college student child leaves a parent hanging in such a big way, it's up to the child to repair the damage.