<prompt> Human: I need help reddit. As the title says, I was young, dumb, and thought it would last forever. I wanted to support my then bf by co-signing a student loan so he could go to school to get a good job and career. He wanted to do better for himself and us. Things looked good and he was really good at computer programming, which is what the loan was for. Then he discovered that he would have to start at the bottom and work his way up to the kind of money he wanted to make. Thats when things got bad and he decided to quit school.So thats the prequel. Here we are 7 years after the breakup and he hasnt paid that loan for almost 2 years now. Collectors called non stop of course. They threatened to garnish my wages and send me to collections which would hurt my credit. I have good credit because I take care of my shit. I started paying the loan because I do want to be able to buy things like a car or a house.I tried to taking him to small claims court in the beginning. The papers never reached him to appear in court as he gave me bogus addresses. We messaged via facebook and every time he said hed take care of it. Then there were excuses as to why he couldnt pay it. I reached out to his family for help, with no response.Ive talked to a lawyer who said there is nothing I can do because as the co-signer, the student loan company will come after me first, every time. As long as they get paid, theyre happy. This is a private loan too.Is there anything else I can try to get out from the burden of paying for an education I didnt receive? I have my own student loans and personal debt. I now have a family. Daycare eats the majority of my paycheck. Im losing money every month and at this rate, I will have to default and they will have to start garnishing my paychecks, which Im trying to avoid.If anyone has had any success in a similar situation, I am more than open to advice. If you have any advice on how to relieve my own personal financial burdens or get in the positive again, Im listening. Thank you in advance!Edit - What about taking out a personal loan to lower interest rates thus reducing the total amount Ill end up paying in the long run? Is that a good idea? Bad idea? Edit - I didnt post this to be told how stupid it was. I clearly know that now. Unfortunately, I didnt then. I didnt have anyone tell me how much of a burden it was or how I could be stuck with it in the end. I didnt grasp the concept of a co-signer. If I did, I wouldnt have done it.  <response>: Is there anything else I can try to get out from the burden of paying for an education I didnt receive? No. This is what co-signing is. If this wasnt the consequence of co-signing, then lenders wouldnt have any reason to approve people due to their co-signers credit, as it wouldnt matter.The papers never reached him to appear in court as he gave me bogus addresses.There are quite a few websites you can go to to look up someones address unless they specifically went to that website to remove themselves. You could use one of those to look him up and take him to court. That is your only course of action - pay now so you dont get sued by the collection agency and sue your ex to get your money back. 