Ask the Law Guy

I co-signed for my cousin and she got this car now she has not made any payments on it and the bank keeps bugging me. If I had this car in my possession I would take care of it, but I can't get the car from her because it is under both of our names is there any way I can get this car so I can sell it and make the payments that need to be made without ruining my credit?

A great many people seem to agree to be co-signers without really thinking about what they are getting into. A co-signer is promising a creditor that the co-signer will pay the debt, if the principal borrower does not. In your case the lender is trying to enforce the promise with you. You probably have the option of paying the loan off and getting possession of the car. However the lender is unlikely to agree to let you sell the car to someone else in the hopes of paying off the debt. Most cars that are financed are worth less than the amount owed on the loan. Car dealers call this being "upside down."

If neither you nor your cousin make payments the lender has the right to repossess the vehicle, which it will then auction off and apply the money from the sale to the loan balance. You and your cousin are liable for the difference between what the car brings at auction and the unpaid loan balance. That is called the deficiency.

Your situation should be a lesson the people about what you get into when you agree to be a co-signer. If you are neither financially willing or able to pay if the principal borrower doesn't (or can't), don't co-sign.

I live on a rural hilltop in Hayesville, N.C. and have two dogs. The local sheriff’s office tells me there are no dog leash laws, and there are many homes in this area with dogs hanging around off-leash outside. I have two very friendly German short-haired pointers that are only outside briefly off-leash twice a day. They get their major exercise elsewhere, and are sometimes tied up in my yard. But my next-door neighbor hates my dogs on his property, and insists that I keep them off 100% of the time. This weekend, I have a handicapped visitor who accidentally let a dog out and my neighbor once again threatened me with legal action, with the excuse that my dog trespassed on his (unmarked) property. I do not let my dogs run much near the house, and live on a hilltop where a significant fenced area for the dogs is close to impossible. I simply hate the idea of having to control them every time I let them out early in the morning, or even just when I bring them into or out of the car, where they just may [cross] briefly onto my neighbor’s property. What is the law here? It would be impossible to build a workable fence between our properties, but I hate simply giving in to my neighbor and completely restricting my dogs. The problem is that this is a guy who will complain even if the dogs come onto his property only once briefly every 3 months. What are his legal rights, and what are mine?

If a man's home is his castle, the yard is his kingdom -- the owner gets to decide who comes in. It's true that dogs are unlikely to understand property lines (I have 3 dogs). While dogs cannot be charged with trespassing, you might be.

We recently purchased property in Kure Beach, N.C. and had our lot surveyed so that we could erect a fence in the back yard for our dogs. We find that the property line goes directly through several old large trees (that we do not want cut) between our yard and the vacant lot beside us. My sister told me that if we fence on our side of the trees then we will lose our property to the vacant lot owner because of squatter’s rights. Is this true?

No it is not true. As long as you build the fence on your land and comply with local ordinances and codes you can build the fence anywhere you choose. Your sister is probably referring to a person's ability to acquire title to land by "adverse possession." Advserse possession is a legal doctrine that allows a person who openly occupies or uses a piece of land for a period of time (7 or 20 years in North Carolina) to claim ownership of it. The use must be actual, open, hostile, exclusive, and continuous.The justification for adverse possession is that if a landowner failed to discover or stop another from using the land for so long, the person using the land gains the right to treat it as their own. "Hostile" means the use has to be without the owner's permission.

For example, suppose a homeowner built a driveway across part of his neighbor's land and used it every day for 20 years. The driveway was clearly visible to anyone who saw the property and it was clear it crossed the boundary. After the 20-year period the intruding neighbor could claim the driveway as his.

Unless someone begins actively using the property outside the fence (surely you would notice) your property should be safe from "squatters."

About 2 months ago, my daughter heard noises outside the bathroom window while she was in the shower. I quickly rushed outside and found that my neighbor was collecting trash on his property, I therefore thought nothing of it. As days passed my daughter was still complaining about these noises and time after time i either found my neighbor somewhere nearby or no where at all. Recently this past week, my daughter was hiding in the shower in fear because she said the neighbor was at the window. My husband ran outside and he was no where to be seen. Through all of this I tried convincing my daughter that it must be her imagination playing with her at times. This same week, while I was in the bathroom I heard noises, sometimes like I usually do at night, therefore, I just ignored it. The following day I decided to get a security camera just to kind of put my mind at ease. I had the camera one day and that following morning, bingo. The camera had caught my neighbor, without a sound as if he was floating through the air, looking into the bathroom window while my daughter was taking a shower at 6:15 am. He knew nothing of my camera and seconds after he was caught looking into the window a security light, he knew nothing of as well, turned on and he looked straight at the light and right into my camera. My daughter is only 16 years old. The police could not arrest him because he did nothing wrong. They took our video as evidence, they did view it first and saw him commiting the crime. He would not answer his door when the officer went to knock. We were told to hold him next time we see him, sso that they may issue a warning to him not to tresspass. I feel so lost and my daughter is just as shaken. What can I do?

In North Carolina it is a misdemeanor to "peep secretly" into a room occupied by another person. It think what your neighbor did fits the definition. The peeper has to be looking with the intention of violating the privacy of the person in the room. If the police and prosecutors will not prosecute, you might be able to sue your neighber civilly for trespass or invasion of privacy. You might consider letting other neighbors know what you observed. It is also possible that your neighbor learned his lesson or will be deterred by the security camera and light.

You might also consider more robust window coverings in your bathroom. Maybe shutters or a shade. I once had an apartment with a window in the shower. One day the landlord gave me a plastic curtain and asked me to hang it in the window. I guess a casual passerby or neighbor was offended.


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