It was a dark and stormy night. The phone rang; I picked it up. "Hello?" I answered tentatively. A faraway voice responded, "Hey, it's me, what's going on?" It was my sister. The evil Department of Education in collaboration with the unpredictable Sallie Mae had denied her enough funds to live for the coming semester. "Help!" she begged.
She'd been offered a private loan from the magical land of Wells Fargo. They promised her treasures beyond her wildest dreams. She just needed one thing: a co-signer. "Oh," I replied, "I don't know. What happens if you don't pay it back?"
An impossibility, she said. Of course she would pay it back with interest and on time. Hesitantly, I inked the application and sent it off to the land of plenty.
Years later; the phone rang. "Hello?" I answered. "Hell-o" was the recorded response. "This is Wells Fargo and you are 90 days past due on your loan repayment."
I telephoned my sister. My credit was melting, melting before my very eyes. There was no way to redeem my good credit. I sat on the floor muttering, "Never co-sign a loan!"
-- Kim B., Florida