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co-owner needs help

Posted on: 19th May, 2009 05:25 pm
im the coowner on a mortgage, the owner is not working right now so the payments are behind. i've told the owner several times before that i wanted out of the contract and to refinance in their name when they were working and able to, but they didn't. so now we are behind and i still want out because of their employment history. what can i do?
hi marques,

if you co-signed on the loan you are responsible for it. if the primary borrower defaults on the loan, your credit will also get affected. if you want to remove your name from the loan, you need to get it refinanced by the primary borrower. you can also do it using a novation agreement. but you have to get the approval of your lender to do the novation.
Posted on: 19th May, 2009 09:35 pm
and, of course, novation isn't going to be granted by the lender because payments are not being made in a timely manner.

marques, i don't quite understand this - do you feel that you are not obligated to make payments? from the tenor of your question here, it seems that you are trying to deflect all responsibility to the other borrower. you recognize that signing a promissory note (promising to pay) makes you responsible, right?
Posted on: 20th May, 2009 06:25 am
This is a common theme. Too many people co-sign loans and it often results in a bad situation.

To everyone out there who is thinking about co-signing a loan for someone.....

You are putting your credit history in the hands of that person. Most likely, the reason why that person needs a co-signer is because the bank does not believe he/she can repay them. So, if you are going to co-sign you need to protect yourself. I would recommend the following...
1. Never co-sign unless the person you are helping is putting at least 20% down on the property.
2. Get an attorney to draw up a contract between the two of you. It should essentially grant you full ownership rights to the property if the other borrower misses more than two payments in a row.
3. Make sure you are able to access payment history online so you can see if the person is starting to fall behind.

Doing this will allow you to keep a close eye on what is going on. It will also allow you to sell the property and close out the note before things get too bad.
Posted on: 20th May, 2009 06:06 pm
good ideas, eric. i wonder about #2, though, only thinking of how the lender would view this. there's validity to it, yes, but just that question hits me.
Posted on: 21st May, 2009 10:42 am
if my name is on a loan with my daughter but she can no longer pay the morgage and she defaults am i responsible also? the house is in florida and i live in new york
Posted on: 21st Jul, 2009 12:07 pm
very simply, yes, rosemarie.
Posted on: 21st Jul, 2009 12:51 pm
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