Would you pay your ex’s mortgage?

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13

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  • BullDozier
    BullDozier Posts: 237 Member
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    Please advise him to contact a lawyer and get a quitclaim deed asap. Like... yesterday.

    If she forecloses on it, this is his only saving grace. How the lawyers did not do this when they divorced is baffling.
    A quit claim deed does not get him off the mortgage. A quit claim deed transfers his interest in the property, but does not release him from the obligations of the mortgage.
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Please advise him to contact a lawyer and get a quitclaim deed asap. Like... yesterday.

    If she forecloses on it, this is his only saving grace. How the lawyers did not do this when they divorced is baffling.
    A quit claim deed does not get him off the mortgage. A quit claim deed transfers his interest in the property, but does not release him from the obligations of the mortgage.

    Correct. But it can help him get future financing if it forecloses. That's my understanding.
  • sunsnstatheart
    sunsnstatheart Posts: 2,544 Member
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    Why don't they just sell the house pay off the house and take whatever money is left (if there is any) and cut their losses?

    Seriously sounds like they would both benefit from that.

    I have never been married so I have never been divorced but a friend of mine is going through this and her and her ex just decided to sell the house, pay of what was owing and any money (if there is money) will be split between the 2 of them.

    If I'm following, there IS no money left. They would still OWE the bank if they sold b/c they're upside down.

    The banks will negotiate short sales right now but it depends on the situation, and the ex is still going to need to agree.
  • JanieJack
    JanieJack Posts: 3,831 Member
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    If I recall correctly, a quitclaim isn't going to do you any good. Basically all it does is give away your right to the 'good' part of the property-- ergo, if the other party decides to sell, you can't stop them. But, you're still on the mortgage, still on the hook for the debt.

    Exactly.

    No they don't have kids.

    She is unwilling to move to something she can afford because this was her parent's home. They took out a home equity line to renovate after her parents passed. He is checking into whether there is something he can legally do to force her out of the house. He says his dad might be willing to help him cough up the money needed to make up for what's lost in selling the house.

    He is leaving his name on the house until he is removed from the loan, but after reading some of the responses above, I will recommend he talk to a lawyer about what happens if it forecloses if he quit-claims it to her vs if he keeps his name on there. I was under the impresion there's no difference since it's a hit on the credit. But I'm not qualified to say..
  • InnerConflict
    InnerConflict Posts: 1,592 Member
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    Yes, he should still pay the mortgage. Him and his ex borrowed the money and it is their obligation to pay it back.

    Oh, I forgot. It is the evil bank's fault.
  • Reinventing_Me
    Reinventing_Me Posts: 1,053 Member
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    What does their divorce decree state? If she kept the house and is responsible for the mortgage, wouldn't she be in breech of the judgement? I would think the Judge would have ordered her to refinance within a certain amount of time to remove the hubby's name from the mortgage and if she doesn't, then sale of the property would be forced. She had to have proven she could afford to stay in it if it was awarded to her, unless the judgement states the hubby is still responsible for the mortgage. If that's the case, he should just pay it himself.
  • eric_sg61
    eric_sg61 Posts: 2,925 Member
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    Reason #23 to NEVER GET MARRIED!
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
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    If I recall correctly, a quitclaim isn't going to do you any good. Basically all it does is give away your right to the 'good' part of the property-- ergo, if the other party decides to sell, you can't stop them. But, you're still on the mortgage, still on the hook for the debt.

    Exactly.

    No they don't have kids.

    She is unwilling to move to something she can afford because this was her parent's home. They took out a home equity line to renovate after her parents passed. He is checking into whether there is something he can legally do to force her out of the house. He says his dad might be willing to help him cough up the money needed to make up for what's lost in selling the house.

    He is leaving his name on the house until he is removed from the loan, but after reading some of the responses above, I will recommend he talk to a lawyer about what happens if it forecloses if he quit-claims it to her vs if he keeps his name on there. I was under the impresion there's no difference since it's a hit on the credit. But I'm not qualified to say..

    No matter what he can't get his name off the loan. It doesn't matter what the divorce decree says, and a quit-claim doesn't help that either. Unless she refi's it into her name (which it doesn't sound like she can or it would have already happened), he's kinda stuck. It's shocking how often this happens, sadly :(
  • wikitbikit
    wikitbikit Posts: 518 Member
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    Yeah, he definitely needs to contact a lawyer to find out what his best course of action would be. What a mess. I think I mentioned it before but really, divorce sucks.
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Yes, he should still pay the mortgage. Him and his ex borrowed the money and it is their obligation to pay it back.

    Oh, I forgot. It is the evil bank's fault.

    No. It's her fault for negotiating she keep the house in the divorce, not refinancing it, and then not paying on it. And it's his fault for allowing that to happen.
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    If I recall correctly, a quitclaim isn't going to do you any good. Basically all it does is give away your right to the 'good' part of the property-- ergo, if the other party decides to sell, you can't stop them. But, you're still on the mortgage, still on the hook for the debt.

    Exactly.

    No they don't have kids.

    She is unwilling to move to something she can afford because this was her parent's home. They took out a home equity line to renovate after her parents passed. He is checking into whether there is something he can legally do to force her out of the house. He says his dad might be willing to help him cough up the money needed to make up for what's lost in selling the house.

    He is leaving his name on the house until he is removed from the loan, but after reading some of the responses above, I will recommend he talk to a lawyer about what happens if it forecloses if he quit-claims it to her vs if he keeps his name on there. I was under the impresion there's no difference since it's a hit on the credit. But I'm not qualified to say..

    Maybe if he presents her with two options: 1) she can maintain ownership of the property by renting it out and move into a property she can afford until she can afford her parents property (if i were him I'd require that half of the proceeds go to him until he's repaid for his contribution from the time he left the property and the other half be applied to the loan to pay off the loan more quickly) or 2) she can lose the property while he chooses to take the hit of foreclosure and show his seriousness of this by having the quitclaim drawn up (but not yet signed). It may force her hand.
  • fit4lifeUcan2
    fit4lifeUcan2 Posts: 1,458 Member
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    when my parents split they sold the house and split the (not evenly, my mom got most of it) the money. If she got the house why is his name still on the loan. Did he sign over his "half" of the house?

    Seems to me most of you responding have not been divorced in the aftermath of the real estate market crashing. The court can order you to pay for the loan. The court cannot, however, order the bank to put the loan entirely in your name.
    Yup. My own lawyer has pretty much said nothing I can do at this point.

    Did you discuss a quitclaim deed, Gonzo?

    I found this all very interesting so looked it up.

    A quitclaim deed typically is executed when the property isn't sold -- when the owner dies and bequeaths it to someone, or when the owner gets married and wants to add the spouse's name to the title, or when a former spouse's name is removed as part of a divorce settlement or when the property is transferred to a living trust.

    Looks like a good option to me.
  • j4zepedajj
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    Hell no.. thats why she's an ex. believe me she tried to get me to pay her bills after.. begging and using her kid as leverage..
  • mychellelynne
    mychellelynne Posts: 123 Member
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    I used to work in real estate (re-fi with a title insurance company). When he got divorced, in his divorce decree didn't it talk about the mortgage? Most times it will state that within a certain amount of time a new deed will need to be done. I would have him check his divorce docs.
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
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    I used to work in real estate (re-fi with a title insurance company). When he got divorced, in his divorce decree didn't it talk about the mortgage? Most times it will state that within a certain amount of time a new deed will need to be done. I would have him check his divorce docs.

    While that's all fine and good, the bank doesn't care what the divorce decree states. That doesn't change the loan docs.
  • trb85
    trb85 Posts: 81 Member
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    He needs to sit her down and let her know calmly yet firmly that the house will be put on the market and sold. If it's still in his name, he is within his rights to do this.

    She can't afford the house. It's not his place to keep paying for her to stay there. Therefore, sell the house. He should get back the money that he spent to cover her failure. She gets the rest of the money to go buy something she can actually afford.

    Problem solved.

    EDIT:

    Didn't see that this was an upside down property.

    The ex needs to move out if she can't afford the place. The property needs to be rented. Or the ex can get a second job so she can pay her own mortgage. Or your buddy can just take the credit hit. A lawyer is a must, in any case.
  • whatshouldieat
    whatshouldieat Posts: 101 Member
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    Get out and GET OUT QUICK!!! Hire a good lawyer and get your name off that house, otherwise her poor repsonsibility in money management will take you down. Good credit is like S3X some people get it and some people don't.
  • Kohadre
    Kohadre Posts: 316
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    **** no
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    Tell him to sell it and finally finish that divorce. He already decided to cut her out, no reason to keep her in his life.

    Or, he can just smile, bear it, and keep paying up until her house is paid off.
  • wikitbikit
    wikitbikit Posts: 518 Member
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    Yes, he should still pay the mortgage. Him and his ex borrowed the money and it is their obligation to pay it back.
    I do agree with this generally, depending on what the debt ratio is. For the house my ex and I 'owned,' when it resold eventually, it for was less than a third of what we paid for it. I'm not the brightest crayon in the box, but I'd rather have a foreclosure on my record for what, 7? 9? Heck, 29 years! rather than spend the next 30 years ridiculously overpaying for something I don't even want. I accept that credit score ding punishment with a smile.