AITA for Refusing to Cosign a Colleague’s Personal Loan?

A Redditor working in a niche government sector shares a dilemma involving a colleague who requested they cosign a large personal loan.

Although they trust the colleague and understand the significance of the loan for her family, they felt uncomfortable taking on such a significant financial responsibility. After refusing to cosign, the colleague became upset, leaving the Redditor questioning whether they made the right choice.

‘ AITA for Refusing to Cosign a Colleague’s Personal Loan?’

Clarification: Some comments showed confusion about Rs 10 lakh in my country’s currency. It is around 8 or 9 months of my gross salary.
I (26M) work in a niche government sector where we all know each other quite well. Recently, a colleague of mine, let’s call her Pri (25 probably, F), approached me with a request that left me in a difficult position.

Pri is a trustworthy and reliable person, and we have a good working relationship. Just to be clear it is purely platonic. I know she is an honest person.
She asked me to cosign a personal loan of ₹10 lakh for her. She needs the money to buy a shop in her native village, which she believes will significantly improve her husband’s financial situation.

I have zero debt and have always been cautious about my financial commitments. Despite my trust in Pri, I felt uncomfortable taking on the responsibility of such a large loan. I explained my concerns to her, saying, “I understand how important this is for you, but I am not comfortable cosigning a loan of this magnitude. It’s a significant financial responsibility, and I am not in a position to take that on.”

Pri became furious and emotional, saying, “I thought you trusted me! This shop is crucial for my family’s future, and the bank won’t accept my husband as a cosigner because he is unemployed. I really need your help.”

I felt terrible for saying no, but I stood my ground. It’s not about trust, it’s about my own financial security and comfort level. I just don’t believe in loan. Yes, a Dave Ramsey fan.

Now, Pri is barely speaking to me, and I feel guilty for not helping her out. However, I still believe that I made the right decision for my own financial well-being. So, AITA for refusing to cosign her loan?

Check out how the community responded:

Druid-Flowers1 −  Nta, Pri wants you to share in the risk, but not the ownership and rewards that come with it. You wouldn’t gain if her husband does well, just owe money if he fails.

DonWilliam77 −  100 per cent NTA. Asking for that and then being furious when you decline is terrible of Pri. You have every right to decline and she can not demand that at all. She is the AH.

Even_Enthusiasm7223 −  Never cosign for anyone! No other person in the office, none of her family, none of her friends would co-sign for her. Her that should tell you something.

And now she’s mad at you because she won’t co-sign for basically just a work friend. You should be thankful that she’s not speaking to you anymore. You might be trustful but never ever co-signed for anyone. Nta

_s1m0n_s3z −  NTA. If she was a good risk, the bank would have lent her the money.

Judgemental_Jude −  NTA. Asking a friend or a coworker to cosign for a personal loan is a d**k move.

Global_Look2821 −  NTA and that was a truly wild expectation of hers. She’s not family- and even if she were you had NO obligation to put your own financial well-being at risk. The fact she needs someone to co-sign in the first place is a negative tell of her own financial health.

Is there an HR department at your work? Bc this issue needs to be brought to the higher ups attention before she tries to neg you to them. Get ahead of that possibility asap.

PARA9535307 −  NTA. Co-signing is the worst. Co-signing sticks you with 100% of the risk of the loan, while giving you 0% of any upside associated with whatever the loan is for. Like best case scenario is that this shop actually turns out to be wildly profitable. Great right? But guess how much of that profit you’d be e**itled to for taking on all the risk of this loan? None. Zip. Zero. You’re not an owner.

But worst case? You have to repay the entire loan. Maybe it’s because the shop flops, and they can’t pay. But there’s also the potential that even if it is profitable, they could just decide to not pay the loan (or just get/be disorganized and forget), and then you’d have no way to force them to share their profits to cover the loan. You’d just be stuck paying the loan for them, because that’s exactly what agreeing to co-signing means.

So *her* trying to make *you* out to be the s**fish one? No, she’s got that backwards. And I get that she must be under a lot of stress right now, things might be difficult financially and in her marriage because he’s unemployed. But that doesn’t entitle her to demand this of you.

Doesn’t excuse that she didn’t come to you *asking* if you’d be interested in being an *investor* and providing a business plan and share of *profitability*. No, she came to you *demanding* (“no” was obviously not an option) that you make yourself 100% responsible for her loan, with no possible upside. And yeah, she’s under a lot of strain, but that’s actually s**fish as sh1t.

So if she wants to be mad, let her. Her unreasonable anger over creating unreasonable and unfair expectations is a “her” problem that reflects poorly on her. Not you. Like I hate that her family is going through financial stress right now, but THIS isn’t how to fix it. This doesn’t *solve* it, it just *transfers* that financial stress onto someone else, you. And you have every right to (and are wise to) say no, and to expect your work colleague to respect that.

Wise_Entertainer_970 −  NTA. She wants you to co-sign a loan for her unemployed husband? The audacity.

Professional-Win-532 −  You could ask for the shop to be registered in your name, and once she has paid you the 10L with interest, you could transfer it to her.. BUT, I still wouldn’t do it!

Excellent-Count4009 −  NTA. YOu are RIGHT not to trust her. She needs you to cosign – that means: The bank doesn’t trust her to pay the money back (and they really looked at her financial situation)- so why would you trust her to be able to pay you back?