The Rachel Cruze Show - The Cosigning Nightmare(s) That Will Make You Think Twice

Episode Date: November 17, 2025

🎄 Enter the 2025 Ramsey Christmas Giveaway!   Cosigning is one of the things I warn people against the most! In this episode, I cover some of the messiest cosigning situations I’ve seen and why it’s a recipe for disaster.   Next Steps: 🎥 Watch my video 3 Healthy Money Boundaries to Set With Family. 💵 Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app! 📈 Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a free personalized plan.   Connect With Our Sponsors:   Learn more about Christian Healthcare Ministries. Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. Go to FAIRWINDS Credit Union for an exclusive account bundle! Turn to Minno for kids shows you can trust. Use code RACHEL for $10 off an annual plan with a 7-day free trial.    Explore More From Ramsey Network: 🍸 Smart Money Happy Hour 🎙️ The Ramsey Show   💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 💰 George Kamel 🪑 Front Row Seat with Ken Coleman  📈 EntreLeadership   Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some of the messiest and most stressful situations I've ever witnessed have come from mixing relationships and money. And you guys, it's a very complicated subject, but just to prove how crucial it is to have financial boundaries in your life, I'm going to share three co-signing nightmares that will make you stop in your tracks and rethink your whole life. So make sure to like, subscribe, and share this episode with a friend. All right, when it comes to co-signing, in order to have a co-signer, it means that you have bad credit, which means you did not handle the debt that you have now well. So you don't have a good number. So the bank is like, we're not going to give you money unless we can have someone that's responsible.

And then the responsible people are like, oh, my gosh, you know, sweet, sweet bill needs a new car. And, you know, he can't get one. He has no money. And he has to get a loan. But he can't get a loan. So I'm going to be on the loan with him because he will pay it. Yes, he will. And then he doesn't.

And then you're just like, wait, what, what? and then you're stuck with it. So, co-signing is one of the worst. So here are some Ramsey Show moments, you guys, where it proves it out. All right, so first up, we have Rebecca and her ex-boyfriend bought a million-dollar ranch in cash, but put her name also on the deed of the ranch. And they weren't married yet. So this is not necessarily a co-signing situation, but they're already mingling finances

and they're not married. So I was on this episode. I remember this well. Here's the clip. Earlier this year, I guess a boyfriend at the time of two years was ready to take the next step. And he wanted to move to my state. And he ended up purchasing a branch, which is kind of like my dream property, for about a million dollars. Paid cash, put me on the deed.

And prior to that, I said, you know, I don't feel comfortable doing this unless we were married. at that point, he was like, nope, we're going to get married. A venue was booked, a ring was purchased, and we move forward. He moves in for about three weeks and then tries to almost trick me into signing the deed of the house into a trust while he's like planning his exit. and he left. So, which whole other set of emotional issues. He paid, he paid cash. He did.

Of a million dollars for a property. Yep. And put your name on the deed. Yes, sir. And then he took off. Yes, sir. So I don't understand how he profits from this. It almost sounds like he was trying to scam.

Is he just flighty or what? I think he has some. I think he wants the, he liked the idea of this. Oh. And I think he got your, broke my heart. I'm left to manage the whole 20 acres on my own and six animals. It's not your house.

It's not my house. Well, he, it's his million dollars, right? Yeah, but I'm on the deed. So technically I am 50% owner. And my home, I rented it out. and I have tenants in there through the end of May. So your point is you've been damaged by this fraud, and so financially,

and so it would be ethical to receive something for that. I don't know. I think that's right. I think, you know, it costs you, it costs you a good job. And my home that I had. Well, no, you own the home still.

Right. You'll get it back in May. and you know, and you will have rented it. You will have made money on it during that time. So I don't mind tagging him for $100 grand or something. I just don't know how you've been harmed much more than $100,000 unless you want to just be punitive, which honestly is probably okay. This guy kind of deserves it, but I'm kind of with you.

I mean, I'm vacillating while I'm talking to you. You hear me? So I'm not sure. This is weird. And you, as you know, and you're not the weird one. So, yeah. Okay. don't want to, I want to be made whole financially plus a little, if I'm you.

Past that, this is dirty money for me. Right. I got, and I don't want to live on this farm, this ranch. That's got bad juju all over it. Mm-hmm. Right? If I'm you, I'm just, I'm just, I'm trying to put myself in your shoes. Yeah, get me out of there.

Yeah. I don't want to, I don't want to walk away with. And legally, you're in time. title to half a million legally, right? If her name's on the deed. Nothing this twerk can do about it. But the question is, what do you feel right about, right? From just like a moral perspective.

And that's the being made whole plus a little bit more. I would, do you have an ability to contact him? Yeah, I would have your attorney contact him and say, I will sign a deed to you for $200,000 or whatever the number is. And then I would go get an apartment and sell off the animal. and get out of this, get away from this whole thing. And then go back to your house in May when the tax move out. I would just get away from the whole thing.

Okay, I do love that Dave was like, you get like a love tax basically of like, yeah, you get a little something if he sells the ranch, right? But yeah, you guys, you don't want to co-mingle finances when you're not married. And again, she was on the better end of the situation. Usually I feel like it's the guy calling, right? that's like, hey, I have this paid off ranch and my ex-girlfriend is on it. What do I do? Right?

So always remember to keep it separate. Okay. Number two, this one's interesting. Co-signing a loan for his church is what this guy was asking about. Okay, so let's watch this one together. So I like my church. It's a good church. And there's building expansion.

They've asked the senior members to co-sign on a loan. for the expansion. And I listened to you and kind of a flag went up. What do you think about that? Well, I'm kind of weird. I think churches ought to follow what the Bible says. And 1718 Proverbs says one lacking in sense cosines for another. Yeah, it's a 2.3 million weeks.

No, no, no, no, no, no. It ends right there. The Bible says, one lacking in sense cosines for another. That includes a church, especially a church, ought to be following the Bible.

No way. I'm doing this. Okay. All righty. No way. Thanks. It's bad. It's a bad idea. But yeah, that's a wild one. Like, mix in some spirituality

dysfunction in the midst of that. No, thank you. No, thank you. All right. Next, Nick is in trouble after co-signing a loan for a friend. But before we dive into his story, I do want to tell you about one of our sponsors, Fairwinds Credit Union. When you are working the Baby Steps,

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All right. Our third and final clip, yeah, is a co-signed situation with a friend. So here it is. I co-signed on a loan for my friend seven years ago now. With a verbal agreement that in a few years, he's going to refinance and get me off. And, you know, COVID hit and he had a COVID-assist program where they stopped paying on the loan, but obviously the interest rates were continuing to add up. Yikes.

And then life happened. So he had surgery. So he went through a couple of rough times. I mean, the good thing is he's still paying on the loan. The only bad thing was the original loan was for $367. and now because of the COVID program, it went up to 376. So after I just got married with my wife and we want to start our life and by our first home. And I reached out to him in regards to options of getting off the loan.

Excuse me. And we tried to do a loan assumption, but his debt ratio was not where it needed to be because of, you know, the surgeries and everything. So, um, and then I, I approached them in regards to, hey, you know, let's refinance. Even though it's going to be at a higher rate, it's, it's going to be on you only. It's not on me anymore. I did my part as a friend of helping you get this house, but what he said was. Um, no, obviously he said no, because of the rates not being low enough.

And, um, he. So my question for you would be, obviously, we've been going back and forth with him about it. And I want to know what should be my next stop. I mean, the relationship can't be too good after all this, is it? So, no. So the relationship has definitely suffered. Yeah, we're about to go to a hard break, Nick. But, yeah, I mean, this is the hard thing about co-signing, Nick, is there aren't other options.

I'm like, from a legal perspective, you signed a loan. And until your name is off of that loan, there's really not like a legal way to go about this or anything. I mean, it kind of is what it is. And so... You could try to see what a judge would say about it. I mean, to try to force a refi, but I don't know that they could do that. Yeah, I'm not sure. This is why we say not to do this.

So this is a classic example, you guys, of when you attach yourself to someone else's financial picture, especially when it comes to debt and co-signing. you are, you're opening yourself up to be like, hey, I mean, my future is reliant upon this person that wasn't good with debt in the first place and needed a co-signer to do what they said they're going to do. And not everyone that gets a co-signed loan is bad. And I think most people, I want to believe, you know, have the wherewithal to realize, okay, I'm going to try to pay this back. Like, I think their intent is good. But life happens. It's just like exactly what that call is. So please, for the love of God, please don't be a co-exam.

signer. Now, if you have never watched or listened to The Ramsey Show, it is full of real stories and financial questions just like these. And you can learn so much more on what to do and what not to do with your money just by listening in. And remember, financial boundaries. They can be tough to put in place, but they are an absolute must. So make sure to check out my episode, Three Healthy Money Boundaries to Set with Family. You can go right here, click that when it comes to relationships and money. This is really important. And if you're listening on podcast, I'll leave a link below. All right, you guys, remember to take control of your money and create a life you love.