Guaranty or Suretyship?

In June, John Conte agreed to purchase a used car from Barnum Cadillac. Because John had a poor credit rating, his brother, Frank, agreed to cosign the installment sales contract. Frank signed the contract on the line designated "Buyer," and John signed on the line designated "Co-Buyer." Barnum then assigned the contract to General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC). In May a year later, GMAC declared the contract in default. After attempting to locate the car for several months, GMAC finally found it in a condition of total loss. GMAC brought an action for damages, but because service of process was never effected on John, the action proceeded only against Frank. Frank argued that he was a guarantor of the contract between John and GMAC and that GMAC would have to attempt to bring suit first against John before it could proceed against him. Is Frank right? . . . (to read the remainder of this article, please log in below.)