I paid a 26K bill for the person who gave me the gift.
You need to elaborate more. Doesn't look or sound like a gift to me, if you paid $26K to the person you got it from. Paying a liability for that person is no different than you giving that person the money, and they pay their debt. THis would mean your cost basis on the lease is $26K. If you sold it for more than $26K then you have a taxable gain. If sold for less than $26K, you have a loss.