jointly and severally

Term used commonly in loan agreements involving two or more borrowers. Under the legal concept of joint and several liability, a lender has the freedom to claim the full loan balance from the signatories as a group (not necessarily on a proportional or pro-rata basis) or from each of them individually. The lender may sue any signatory who has enough free assets to satisfy the lender's claim, without taking any action against the others. See also joint liability.