Can a lender or creditor tell me to pay a debt if I have a court order that says the opposing party has to pay?
Yes. When more than one party agrees to be responsible for a single loan or debt, the parties are jointly and severally liable. This means the lender or creditor (bank, credit card company, mortgage company) can “go after” one or both parties to receive payment, even if a court order says specifically that one party is responsible for paying a joint debt. This is because when you get a loan or a mortgage or a credit card, you make an agreement with that company that the people on that loan or account will pay any debt. So the lender or creditor cares only about getting someone to pay. Regardless of what the court order says, there is a contractual relationship between the lender or creditor and the parties who had the debt. To avoid that situation, if you have a court order saying you are not responsible for a debt, sometimes you can refinance the loan to get your name off to make it clear that you are not responsible for the debt any more. If the opposing party isn’t cooperating with
