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Ask for a copy of the settlement papers she received at the closing which will show the precise amount of money she netted from the sale. If she had to pay out of pocket for repairs per the sales contract that were not reflected at the settlement, she should have documentation for that, too, that she can give to you. You are entitled to documentation, not just her word, on how the house sale went down.
I told her I wanted to see the settlement papers when I heard from her as of now I haven't heard anything back from her.
And I don't trust her but not lies the question will she send me the papers or not. Knowing her she won't.
OR she'll take her sweet time about it.
I don't your specific state rules, but in many states such closing documents may be public record. You could contact the realtor who assisted her with the sale, since you do have a stake in this sale. Good luck.
I told her I wanted to see the settlement papers when I heard from her as of now I haven't heard anything back from her.
And I don't trust her but not lies the question will she send me the papers or not. Knowing her she won't.
OR she'll take her sweet time about it.
Request these things in writing (a letter, not an email), not just in a phone conversation. Have you verified through public records that she sold it for the amount she has told you? Are you sure of the sales price?
Again, you made a bad deal. You should have had her sign a 2nd mortgage note payable to you, and you should have filed that note with the clerk of court. Thus whenever she sold the house, she would have had to pay off that note and accumulated interest in the settlement process.
When it comes to money and debt, everything has to be in writing, and legal. You did not properly protect your interests. You should have paid an attorney on the front end to get the note properly done and filed; to get an attorney involved now will be much more expensive to you and ultimately fruitless.
My advice: let it go. Start this new year with a clean slate, put this behind you, and never look back.
The title company should have inquired about her marital status and when she answered divorced, the PSA (even if handwritten) should have been requested.
I would send her a Certified letter formally requesting a copy of her HUD1, and on the same day, send the Realtor ( who will be obligated to give it to his/her broker) a Certified letter stating as part of a divorce settlement, your ex had financial obligations to you and you would like the name and telephone number for the title company. Certified tends to get their attention and signals you are serious....it also gives the impression of retaining counsel. Which, this is not legal advice, just suggestions.
Finally, if I really thought I was screwed over ( which is still a question in my mind if you were - we don't know how many years you lived in the home, if you bailed and left her holding the bag.....there's two sides to every story) there is one more thing I would do. I would find out who bought the property and approach the buyers. Find a good time (not dinner time) and stop by the house and request their assistance with your dilemma and how she done you wrong. By now, they've probably found a few things about the house they aren't happy with, lol, and may be more than happy to tell you what repairs were and were not done. They may even give you a copy of the HUD. Then when you get the copy from the ex, you can see if her document was doctored. Timing is everything.....oh, and she would have received a refund from the current mortgage company. Ask her for proof how much that was, it's possibly 4 figures.
She owes you $7000. Even though the home was a loss, the loss shouldn't be 100% the OP's loss. By the wife giving the $7000 that was owed to OP, then the wife is sharing in the loss, which is fair. The OP is losing $20,000 currently. By the wife giving him $7000, he still lost more than her.
OP - get an attorney and sue her for the $7000. She'll have to dig it up somewhere else or else get a loan or you get a judgement against her and get deductions from her paycheck if allowed. You shouldn't have to lose $20,000 while she loses $0. At least when she pays you back the $7000, she will have lost $7000 and you will be $13,000 in the hole.
Try to get her to pay attorney costs for this also since it's her fault that you have to sue. Your attorney will be able to guide you through this. It shouldn't be massive attorney costs because you already have the agreement. You are just suing her to enforce the agreement and then to do a judgement and possible deductions from her paycheck if you can do that.
Sue her for the $7000 plus court costs plus attorney costs. Regardless of what the property sold for, she still owes you the $7000. She's trying to walk away 'break even' and leaving you with a $20,000 loss. That's not fair.
What does the document say? Regardless of your intention, what are the exact words?
I think it matters in this case because they did a DIY divorce and clearly the ex-wife thinks she is supposed to give him $7k out of the proceeds of the sale of the house. The words they choose would be reflective of that intent and what we don't know is if the ex has emails/texts or other documents that would support that intent.
Our small claims court limit in Oregon is $7500 so this matter would be handled there, but I don't think a judge would be favorable to a poorly worded DIY document.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SmartMoney
The title company should have inquired about her marital status and when she answered divorced, the PSA (even if handwritten) should have been requested.
I would send her a Certified letter formally requesting a copy of her HUD1, and on the same day, send the Realtor ( who will be obligated to give it to his/her broker) a Certified letter stating as part of a divorce settlement, your ex had financial obligations to you and you would like the name and telephone number for the title company. Certified tends to get their attention and signals you are serious....it also gives the impression of retaining counsel. Which, this is not legal advice, just suggestions.
Finally, if I really thought I was screwed over ( which is still a question in my mind if you were - we don't know how many years you lived in the home, if you bailed and left her holding the bag.....there's two sides to every story) there is one more thing I would do. I would find out who bought the property and approach the buyers. Find a good time (not dinner time) and stop by the house and request their assistance with your dilemma and how she done you wrong. By now, they've probably found a few things about the house they aren't happy with, lol, and may be more than happy to tell you what repairs were and were not done. They may even give you a copy of the HUD. Then when you get the copy from the ex, you can see if her document was doctored. Timing is everything.....oh, and she would have received a refund from the current mortgage company. Ask her for proof how much that was, it's possibly 4 figures.
Other than Texas where sales prices are confidential, it is just easier for the OP to go to the recorder's office to get that information. Also, depending on which state the house is in, the buyer may only have their half of the HUD statement.
Due to confidentiality, in Oregon, we only give the buyer or seller their half of the HUD. They don't get a full HUD statement because the sellers net proceeds is none of the buyer's business. So approaching the buyers would be uncomfortable and moot. I can't recommend pulling buyers into the sellers drama.
She owes you $7000. Even though the home was a loss, the loss shouldn't be 100% the OP's loss. By the wife giving the $7000 that was owed to OP, then the wife is sharing in the loss, which is fair. The OP is losing $20,000 currently. By the wife giving him $7000, he still lost more than her.
OP - get an attorney and sue her for the $7000. She'll have to dig it up somewhere else or else get a loan or you get a judgement against her and get deductions from her paycheck if allowed. You shouldn't have to lose $20,000 while she loses $0. At least when she pays you back the $7000, she will have lost $7000 and you will be $13,000 in the hole.
Try to get her to pay attorney costs for this also since it's her fault that you have to sue. Your attorney will be able to guide you through this. It shouldn't be massive attorney costs because you already have the agreement. You are just suing her to enforce the agreement and then to do a judgement and possible deductions from her paycheck if you can do that.
Sue her for the $7000 plus court costs plus attorney costs. Regardless of what the property sold for, she still owes you the $7000. She's trying to walk away 'break even' and leaving you with a $20,000 loss. That's not fair.
They were a married couple and put $20K down. He keeps saying that he put the money down but if they were married, then it was a down payment as a couple. There is no mine and yours when you're married. He moved out and she then paid the mortgage herself for 2 years. She paid for all the repairs in order to sell (OP never said how much that cost) and then she paid the $2K at closing in order to sell the house. So how did she lose $0?
You were to get half of the proceeds. There were no "proceeds". Repairs, closing costs, etc. are par for the course when it comes to selling a home. Therefore, you get zilch. Just like she did.
Must have been a nasty divorce for you not to be able to grasp this concept.
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