my ex was awarded my house it's a va loan. she won't refi. how do I get my name off the mortgage?

Answer 1

I don't think you can because the same thing happened to me. My ex-husband got the house (2002), but wouldn't do anything to refiance....I filed bankruptcy (in 2003) (he left me holding close to $85,000 in debt....that included the mortgage). Last year, he fell behind on the payments and the bank foreclosed on him, they couldn't come after me because of my bankruptcy. I'm not telling you to do the same thing, but it may be your only way to protect yourself. Think long & hard before doing anything.

Answer 2

That's going to depend upon what your divorce decree says. If you are responsible for paying the mortgage, there's no way you'll get off the mortgage.

When I got divorced, I was awarded the house. The decree stated that I would indemnify her against any liability for failure to pay the mortgage. Basically that would have allowed her to sue me if I failed to pay the mortgage and the bank had gone after her.

For the most part, the courts cannot order the mortgage company to remove your name from the mortgage or trust deed. They are an innocent party to the whole mess and you will remain liable until the mortgage is either retired (paid off) or the lender voluntarily agrees to remove you.

You should have raised that issue during the negotiations on the divorce settlement. If you could not come to an agreement at that time, you could have sued for partition and forced a sale of the property to retire the mortgage. Your ex could have purchased it for the outstanding mortgage balance and taken out her own mortgage. This would have restored your VA entitlement as well. Of course, it's too late for all that now.

If your wife fails to keep up the payments, both the bank and the VA can (and will) go after your for any losses that they incur.

Ask your attorney for advice specific to your situation.

Answer 3

The reason you cannot get off the mortgage is that the bank (not a party to the divorce) based its issueing of the mortgage on YOUR creditworthiness as well as your wife's.

So ... how to get her off? You will probably need to go back to court to have her ordered to refinance or sell the house within a certain (reasonable) amount of time.

The problem is that, generally, divorce courts are usually reluctant to require the sale of the home if there are children involved. But you cannot force the bank to take you off the mortgage, so the only option is to force the ex-wife to do so.

Answer 4

If she was awarded the house and was to refinance the property it should be in your final divorce decree.

Your mortgage company is not aware of the situation, why should they be no one from the court will send a mesage to them informing them of any change to the title change or the final outcome of the court.

Take a copy of your final divorce decree awarding your wife the house as well as the mortgage payments. Send this along with a letter informing your mortgage company that you are no longer required to make the monthly payments and you want your name off the mortgage as indicated in your divorce decree.

Your attorney should have had you sign a quit claim deed signing the property over to your wife, you should include a copy of this quit claim deed also. If you did not sign a quit claim deed signing your rights to the property over to her, go to the attorney that assisted you with your divorce and get him/her to assist you with this matter.

Failing to get your attorney to assist you, not to worry. Call a title company you find in your local telephone book undere title companies. Tell them you want to sign a quit claim deed based on a court ordered divorce decree. They will charge you a small fee, but it is well worth it. As a matter of fact, even if your attorney assist you inform him/her that you want to do the signing through a title company.

At the same time you should send a copy of your final divorce decree to the three major credit bureaus indicating you are not responsible for this loan. Please include the mortgage loan number. Tell them you would like this added to your credit reprot in the event your wife refuse to pay the mortgage. I would send all four letters by certified mail so you can get a receipt indicating they recieved it.

Your final letter should be to the VA informing them with the same information that you are no longer required by law to make the mortgage payments, there fore they should withdraw their guarantee of the loan from the lender. Make sure you include the divorce decree and the quit claim deed.

About a week later I would call the mortgage company and see what action they have taken. If they had not removed your name, ask what it will take to remove your name since you are not legally bound to make the mortgage payments and the court ordered divorce decree overrides the contract you signed with them.

I hope this has been of some use to you, good luck.

"FIGHT ON"

Answer 5

Go back to the courts and have a stipulation added that she needs to refi the house. That way she can be found in contempt of court if she doesn't refi. Your lawyer should have worked that into the settlement right from the start.

Answer 6

You've asked your lawyer? You've called the VA?

After your lawyer awakens from his slumber, you might get him to go back to court to clarify that she either needs to refinance or permit you to sell the house and award her the equity after your VA loan is settled. Otherwise, keep making those mortgage payments buddy. Sorry. (BTW, if you do have to keep paying, try to pay off extra so it gets satisfied early, it will save you thousands and thousands)