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It all comes down to one thing. You and your ex are both on the deed for 50/50 ownership rights.
You cannot sell the property without his notarized signature. And he cannot sell it without your notarized signature.
As half owner, he can demand the net equity be divided 50/50 and he to receive his share of the equity. Or if he wants to be a good guy, he can sign and receive no part of the equity. Make him angry, and guess which will be his choice. Make him angry enough and he may demand more than half the equity to get him to sign. In your situation, I have seen all three solutions happen.
If he does not sign, it can be an expensive procedure to take to court and let the court order the sale under terms they decide is the fairest to both parties, and it is usually 50/50 split. And this route can take many months and even years to clear up. Especially if he cannot be located.
It all comes down to one thing. You and your ex are both on the deed for 50/50 ownership rights.
You cannot sell the property without his notarized signature. And he cannot sell it without your notarized signature.
As half owner, he can demand the net equity be divided 50/50 and he to receive his share of the equity. Or if he wants to be a good guy, he can sign and receive no part of the equity. Make him angry, and guess which will be his choice. Make him angry enough and he may demand more than half the equity to get him to sign. In your situation, I have seen all three solutions happen.
If he does not sign, it can be an expensive procedure to take to court and let the court order the sale under terms they decide is the fairest to both parties, and it is usually 50/50 split. And this route can take many months and even years to clear up. Especially if he cannot be located.
worthy of re-posting over and over until it sinks in !
I am sorry you ran into this one. We deal with a few of these in RE trransactions and it can get difficult.
Note that you have some powerful assets. Rent the thing out if it will carry its cost or provide some net. Do it forever. Even if you can't practically you can still threaten.
If it won't work ably rent consider foreclosure. You have to look at how bad a hit you take but it does solve the matter. And you can actually collect significant cash from renting it until the bank acts.
Quiet title actions sound good but they generally eat large sums before resolution. And your problem is that you are likely working against a phantom opponent when it is your own side that collects all the money.
Be careful of the lawyers in this sort of thing. Their judgement can be swayed by the availability of fees. Once trusted a nice lawyer in an intellectual property matter. Cost me $15K though I did have a net profit.
Thank you.. Unfortunately I bought this home during the housing bubble and paid WAY too much for it (I was young and had the itch to be a homeowner). Luckily I had a decent down payment so the balance isn't as high as it could be, but I worry renting it would barely help me break even after I pay a property management company. The plan is for me to move out of state so I'd have to have a management co. take care of things for me. BUT you're right, renting may end up being my only option if this does not go through..
I'd consider foreclosure but I would like to actually buy another home and that would probably squash that idea.. Not to mention I've worked hard to maintain excellent credit over the years and doing that would definitely be a very, very last resort. I will wait to see how the lawyer behaves and what they say my options are. I am literally taking this one day at a time at this point, hoping for the best and trying to prepare for the worst..
Thank you.. Unfortunately I bought this home during the housing bubble and paid WAY too much for it (I was young and had the itch to be a homeowner). Luckily I had a decent down payment so the balance isn't as high as it could be, but I worry renting it would barely help me break even after I pay a property management company. The plan is for me to move out of state so I'd have to have a management co. take care of things for me. BUT you're right, renting may end up being my only option if this does not go through..
I'd consider foreclosure but I would like to actually buy another home and that would probably squash that idea.. Not to mention I've worked hard to maintain excellent credit over the years and doing that would definitely be a very, very last resort. I will wait to see how the lawyer behaves and what they say my options are. I am literally taking this one day at a time at this point, hoping for the best and trying to prepare for the worst..
I think you got a pretty good view of your options here. A lawyer discussion will help and may give you some idea of the cost of the options...but unless the other turns up and is helpful I don't think there is any good outcome available. At that point you work the rental with as close to break even as you can get.
You should also consider how you will eventually escape from the house. You may find out that there is no real way out but foreclosure or perhaps there is a legal way to sell it and split with the estate of the vanished partner. If you are splitting nothing that could be a good deal. Make sure though you are not paying off a mortgage so you can pay off your ex partner years down the road. If so you might want to take the hit to sell it now. Or you can simply try to outlast him...particularly if he has gone to the dark side. They generally don't live long and if held as normal joint owners you own it all once he passes.
I think you got a pretty good view of your options here. A lawyer discussion will help and may give you some idea of the cost of the options...but unless the other turns up and is helpful I don't think there is any good outcome available. At that point you work the rental with as close to break even as you can get.
You should also consider how you will eventually escape from the house. You may find out that there is no real way out but foreclosure or perhaps there is a legal way to sell it and split with the estate of the vanished partner. If you are splitting nothing that could be a good deal. Make sure though you are not paying off a mortgage so you can pay off your ex partner years down the road. If so you might want to take the hit to sell it now. Or you can simply try to outlast him...particularly if he has gone to the dark side. They generally don't live long and if held as normal joint owners you own it all once he passes.
not unless his health deteriorates to the point he is in a nursing home.
His creditors/nursing home will latch onto his half so quick it will make your head swim.
I think you got a pretty good view of your options here. A lawyer discussion will help and may give you some idea of the cost of the options...but unless the other turns up and is helpful I don't think there is any good outcome available. At that point you work the rental with as close to break even as you can get.
You should also consider how you will eventually escape from the house. You may find out that there is no real way out but foreclosure or perhaps there is a legal way to sell it and split with the estate of the vanished partner. If you are splitting nothing that could be a good deal. Make sure though you are not paying off a mortgage so you can pay off your ex partner years down the road. If so you might want to take the hit to sell it now. Or you can simply try to outlast him...particularly if he has gone to the dark side. They generally don't live long and if held as normal joint owners you own it all once he passes.
They very well may own it as Joints Tenants with rights of survivorship, but if they hold title as Tenants in Common his interest passes to his heirs. Heck, if it's held as Joint Tenants and she passes, he gets the house and not her heirs.
They very well may own it as Joints Tenants with rights of survivorship, but if they hold title as Tenants in Common his interest passes to his heirs. Heck, if it's held as Joint Tenants and she passes, he gets the house and not her heirs.
Joint is the common and likely one. And I don't think at this point she cares if he gets the house.
And again if, as she suspects, he has gone down the dark route he is unlikely to survive long term. The street takes its toll.
I wonder if there is any way she can encumber the place as she pays off the main mortgage. Sell her part to an LLC? Then loan money to the LLC secured by the house? Or I wonder if she could trigger the due and payable clause in the mortgage by selling her interest. How about the impact of a foreclosure if no payments were missed?
Only problem is any of these would likely create heavy legal bills...
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