Tips on Buying Cars: Ex boyfriend has car, po box address, siging

Question
I just paid off a loan that I co-signed with my ex boyfriend. He killed my credit by not paying over $2,000 this past year. I phoned him, emailed, sent him a registered letter stating that I would sign the car over to him (I don't want it) but all he did was text message a PO Box address to my phone. He refuses to communicate.  I also just found out he never paid the car registration last year--in good faith I mailed it to him.  The car has been fully insured by me all this time. My question--since he will not communicate with me, and I worried about liability--the title states Christine "or" Michael--can I take him off the title and report the car stolen?

Answer
Christine,

Thanks for your question.  To answer your question, it would be very difficult to report the car stolen even if you had him removed from the title.  The fact remains that the car was once registered to him, therefore he can't "steal" his own property.  I would NEVER mail a title.  You simply need to do everything you can to either get the car back, OR hand him the title with a letter stating that he needs to get insurance on the car.  Get your name off the title, and get rid of the insurance.  You are caught in a catch 22, and that really is bad for you.  If you drop insurance on the car, you can be held liable if the vehicle is in a wreck or injures someone.  You do however, have the legal right to take the car from him, since you are both joint owners.  He likewise can not file suit against you because you are joint owner of the vehicle as well.  I know this isn't my place, but NEVER CO-SIGN A LOAN AGAIN!  This is the kind of situation you get into when you aren't married, or aren't immediate family such as a parent and child.  Co-siging loans is a bad deal, and if it were up to me, and its not, but if it were it would be against the law!

I wish I could give you the answer you are looking for, but the facts are what they are.

Hope this helps.

Thanks - JB