If 2 people are on a mortgage and one stops paying the mortgage for 19 years do they still own half.?

Question

My mother in law and her boyfriend bought a house 20 years ago. He took after after 8 months and she has been paying the mortgage ever since. Now he is back and says he wants to sell the house or she needs to give him 100,000 to take his name off. What legal recourse does she have.

He is on the deed as well.

No chance of him seeing this page. They can prove he wasnt living there because they had an order of protection against him. He was abusing her kids.

Answer 1

First, let me say that this is of grave importance (as if you didn't know that) and your mother should be asking a real estate attorney if she has legal recourse. This is one situation where asking a bunch of well-meaning, sometimes knowledgeable, sometimes intelligent people on a website just doesn't cut it. The attorneys will often meet with you and answer your questions one time at no charge.

If she has verifiable records that show that she has paid the entirety of the mortgage, and if she can verify somehow (though it is hard to prove a negative), that he has been someplace else for last 19+ years, then I would think this should be pretty much a slam dunk for her, but she'll still need a good lawyer to make sure it is.

People are saying that she should have done something about this a long time ago, and perhaps that's true. Another side of the coin, however, is that it does not look at all good for him that HE didn't do something about it. All you need to do is keep him stupid about revealing the fact that he's been absent all this time. The reason lawyers are paid so well is that they have a strategic way of thinking that many of us can't come close to and we're the first to do dumb things that compromise us. Use silence. Give the guy enough rope to hang himself. If you need me to explain that more, e-mail me.

If he once in a court room or before an attorney admits that he hasn't been living in the house for years, it becomes hard for him to explain why he left himself on that mortgage. A mortgage is a huge financial obligation. A prudent person wouldn't want to be attached to a house they aren't living in anymore. What if the other party defaults? Your credit goes down the tubes right along theirs.

Is there any chance of his ever seeing this Q & A page you started?

Answer 2

She can prove she paid for the house with receipts and canceled checks, but she should have done something in the interim to get rid of this bum long ago.

At this point she needs to talk to a real estate attorney. Her so called friend is still on the mortgage and deed, so he can either quit claim it to her and keep paying on the mortgage until paid off, request a partition sale to force the sale of the property against her will, or hopefully go before a jury and be kicked back to where ever he came from.

Answer 3

I just bought a house and Procastonation is a *****. There is really nothing that she can do up front. The only way to remotely win this is court and high amount of proof she is the only one who was the sole support in the house. If she got married in that time in some states make that new spouse part of that deed as well... although there name might not be there... that's 66% instead of 50%. He as well has a right to do multiply things to that house right now, like oooo live in it.

Answer 4

Technically, they both own half the interest, it's about the deed, not the mortgage or who pays it. But in your MIL's case, it is worth consulting an attorney over. Because he deserted her and the financial responsibility, she may be able to remedy this situation through the court system, similar to how she would have done in a divorce. She needs to talk to an attorney immediately.

Answer 5

Sad to say, he owns half the house. Mother made her error when she simply continued on as if he was still there.

She can certainly check with an attorney, but if this jerk was on both the mortgage AND the deed, I don't think she has much of a leg on which to stand.

Answer 6

Not a lot, especially if he is on the deed too. These are legally binding contracts and he has a legal right to his investment. She should have taken care of this 20 years ago.

Answer 7

None..or at least very little if anything.

Thats why they say to be very careful about getting into mortgages if you are not Married. Our mortgage broker said that more then 50% of the joint mortgages he gives out to non-married people end up getting some ugly somehow.

Answer 8

OBlunder is only a liar. The sheep shop grazing. quickly they're going to understand OBlunder is the wolf in sheeps clothing we already understand him for. o baaaaaaaama o baaaaaaaama flow the sheep. enormous undesirable OBlunder wolf says, "yummy!"

Answer 9

techically he is on the morgage and the deed. Consult with a lawyer.