what happens if I am on a mortgage with my boyfriend and I want out of the relationship?

Question

My boyfriend and I are about to be on a mortgage loan together. We may or may not get married in the future. We have had our share of problems and I worry that the relationship is not going to last forever. At the moment though we both want this home and are tired of throwing money away on rent. I want to know what is going to happen if one of us decides we want out of the relationship? Do we sell the house and split the profits 50/50 or is there a way for one party to buy out the other and if so how does that work? what happens if I want out and he is not cooperative and I end up caught in a 30 year mortgage for a home I no longer want to live in because I want to be away from him? How does all this work? I'm confused and worried I could be making a big mistake.

Answer 1

Well, the first decision you need to make is if you're having doubts to you really want to go on a joint loan with someone you have doubts about being with for 30 years? (the length of the loan). Your obvious doubts, are a red flag you should not go through with the loan.

IF you do go through with the loan, and then in the future split up, you can mutually (I say mutually because you'd both have to agree to this) sell the home together and split any potential profits assuming you're both equally vested in title to 50% ownership a piece.

Your other option is for one of you to buy the other out, and then the one that does that would refinance the loan into their name only, then one of you would be the sole owner, and have sole responsibility for the payment.

However, if you get to the point where you split up, and he does not agree to sell or does not agree to refinance you're stuck in a very bad situation.

I just had a situation similar to this with a co-worker where she and her girlfriend split up, and the other equal owner would not cooperative in helping my coworker refinance the mortgage in her name only. The worst part is her girlfriend quit helping to make the mortgage payment. Now the home is going into foreclosure.

You never know if you and your boyfriend will end up getting married, or possible split up and end things on bad terms. Can you imagine that if you end things on bad terms, he won't cooperate, quits making his half of the payments and you're basically then stuck making the full payment?? What if you can't make it? Then the mortgage payment becomes delinquent, and you then will hurt your credit very badly with late mortgage payments, and worst case - a foreclosure.

Too risky, too many doubts, don't do it unless you're 100% sure.

Answer 2

A friend of mine just went through this. Unfortunately, you'll hear this a thousand times: don't get involved financially unless you are married. People disregard how important marriage is and how it protects you from things like this.

That out of the way, try really hard to ensure that this is a nice break up and that a compromise can be met. I see several possibilities, but here is a few.

a) he buys you our or you buy him out. This can be expensive since it would require one of you to find enough money to buy the other half of the house (legally you both own 50% of the house). One option is to re-finance the house and take money out, but I'm not a 100% sure this would work.

b) you sell the house, split the revenue 50/50 and walk away. The downside to this is selling a house is stressful to begin with without adding a breakup on top of it. Also, in this market, you don't want to be selling anything.

c) you could leave your name on the house and walk away, taking none of the cash. However, by leaving your name on the house, you're entitled to any money that comes when he tries to sell it (50%). Think of it as an investment. This would work if you trusted that he wouldn't trash the house and you have the cash to walk away for awhile.

Anyway, good luck.

Answer 3

If you are the slightest bit worried and you are unsure about your relationship with him, don't buy the house! There are ways around certain circumstances. If you both go on the mortgage, but you decide to leave, you can always be taken off the deed and the mortgage can be refinanced into his name alone. Or the other way around. But if you both don't want the house, you'll have to sell it or rent it out. In this market it is rough to sell a home. So my best advice to you is to hold off for right now. Get your relationship in order and make sure you are committed to this 100%! I know you guys are not married, but I always do refinances for couples who are seperating and it is not pretty. Think it through! Best of luck. Email me if you have any questions.
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Answer 4

If you aren't sure of your relationship, then yes you could be making a big mistake.

If you have a mortgage together, then each one of you is legally responsible for paying the entire amount if the other person doesn't pay his or her share. That's whether you are still together or not, or which one of you if anyone still lives in the house. The mortgage company doesn't care - they have a contract that you signed to pay them a certain number of dollars, and they'll expect their money.

If you split up, agree to sell the house, and are able to sell it for at least as much as you still owe, then everything is fine - you sell it, pay off the mortgage, and everyone is OK - and if there's any money left over, you split that however you agree to, there's no law saying who gets what. But if you can't agree, or if house prices drop and you can't sell it for at least what you owe, you would have problems.

Answer 5

If you are having thoughts NOW of what do I do if I want out, you would be wise to NOT buy a house and be committed to a mortgage.

At the very least, you need to see a lawyer NOW and have an agreement drawn up as to what will happen if you split up down the road.

Answer 6

DO NOT get involved in this financial situation if you are not married! What a mess you will have if you do decide not to stay with this guy. Wait, live alone or at home until you are ready for the responsibilities of married life. You could be paying for a huge financial mistake for years to come.

Answer 7

You will be responsible for what you agree to in writing on the loan. If both names are on the deed (notice I did not say loan) it will require both signatures to sell the home. If you are not in agreement with the planned division of the profit, then dont sell the home. Remember, it requires your signature to sell it as well as his. The problem arises when there is no agreement.

Answer 8

do no longer purchase the domicile. in case you probably did and later down the line you chop up, you're the two in charge for it. this means that if he in no way will pay a dime, the completed loan bill falls on you. in case you won't be in a position to have the money for to make the completed fee by ability of your self, you will default on the loan and the loan holder will foreclose on you. this would negatively impression the two your credit profiles. you are able to would desire to document financial ruin just to sluggish the approach down. interior the tip, you lose on all counts. Now in case you're making the money all by ability of your self and sell the valuables for a income, he can nonetheless sue you for 0.5 of the income. you will pass by using yet yet another long courtroom ca$e and a lot of aggravation. one in each and every of you ought to purchase the different's element outright yet that too costs money for autonomous value determinations and the refinancing costs. completely a lose - lose difficulty except you're married TO EACHOTHER. desire to proportion something at the same time? purchase a dogs and spot how undesirable THAT is going once you wreck up.........yikes!!

Answer 9

You'll want to own the property "tenants in common". Read up on it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenants_in_common#Tenancy_in_common

Good luck,

-D