She Cosigned Her Mom’s Lease at 20, and Now Faces a $2,000 Bill While Her Mom Tries To Make Money Day Trading Instead of Working

A 20-year-old agreed to cosign their mom’s apartment lease last year, hoping to help her get back on her feet. Now the rent is falling further behind every month, and the young cosigner is facing the possibility of an eviction that could follow them for years.

Their mom has already been through one eviction. This time, her child’s name is on the paperwork too, and with $2,000 due in two weeks, the pressure is landing squarely on the person who has the least to give.

A Cosigner at 20

The lease started in August of last year. Their mom needed a cosigner because she couldn’t qualify for an apartment on her own, and her child stepped up to help.

Cosigning felt like the right thing to do at the time. It was a way to keep a roof over both their heads, even though it meant taking on legal responsibility for a lease they couldn’t afford alone.

An Eviction in Her Past

Their mom’s credit was badly damaged long before this apartment. She’d been evicted from a previous home in December 2022, which left her with a rental history most landlords won’t touch.

Without a cosigner, she likely wouldn’t have been approved at all. That history is also why the stakes feel so high now, since a second eviction could make things even harder for both of them.

$2,000 a Month

Rent on the apartment is $2,000 a month. That’s a big bill for any household, and it’s even harder when the main person responsible for it isn’t bringing in steady income.

Their mom has been falling behind on rent over and over. Each missed or partial payment adds to the pile, and the young cosigner has watched the gap grow with no clear plan to close it.

A Part-Time Paycheck Stretched Thin

The cosigner works a part-time job and has been putting almost everything toward the household. Their paycheck covers part of the rent, the electric bill, their phone bill, and groceries.

After all of that, there’s nothing left over. There’s no savings, no cushion for emergencies, and no money for anything beyond the basics.

They’ve said picking up a second job isn’t an option for them right now. That leaves them stuck, working as much as they can and still not earning enough to cover what their mom can’t.

Trading Stocks Instead of Working

While the bills keep piling up, their mom has been working fewer and fewer hours. Instead, she’s been spending more of her time trading stocks, hoping to make money that way.

It hasn’t been working. She’s been losing what little money she does earn, which means even less is going toward rent and even more of the burden is falling on her child.

Family Cuts Her Off

The cosigner’s father and brother have helped out in the past, but that support has ended. They’ve made it clear they won’t be giving her any more money.

That decision makes sense from their side, especially if they’ve watched money disappear into trading losses. But it also means the only person left propping up the household is the 20-year-old whose name is on the lease.

A New 13-Month Lease

The original lease just ended this month. Back in July, before things got this bad, both the cosigner and their mom signed a new 13-month lease that starts in October.

That new lease keeps them tied to the apartment for more than another year. If the rent situation doesn’t improve, the cosigner could be on the hook for a debt that keeps growing with every month.

Credit They Haven’t Built Yet

The cosigner has never had a credit card and doesn’t have any credit history at all. They’re worried an eviction or unpaid rent could damage their credit before they’ve even had a chance to build it.

Unpaid rent can end up with a collections agency, and evictions can show up on rental history reports landlords check. That could make it much harder for the cosigner to rent a place of their own anytime in the next several years.

They’re also unsure how the debt would actually be paid if it came to that. As a cosigner, they could be held responsible for the full amount their mom can’t cover, even though they’re already giving nearly everything they earn.

Two Weeks to Find $2,000

Right now, $2,000 in rent is due in two weeks. On top of that, the cosigner still has to cover the electric bill and groceries, and there’s no obvious place for the rest of the money to come from.

The anxiety is constant. They know there’s only so much they can do, but with a new lease about to start, a mom who keeps losing money, and a family that’s stepped back, they’re left wondering how much of their own future they’ll have to give up to keep a roof over both of them.

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