Posted on: 26th Apr, 2011 11:22 am
Hi, I separated from my husband in Sep 09. Due to the terrible neighborhood we lived in I moved out and let him stay in the house, so that when I moved our kids could have a better school and a safer home. My ex has not paid the mortgage in a year, and by some miracle is still in the home. To my knowledge foreclosure has not started. I never filed a quit claim but spoke to the mortgage co in Oct 09 letting them know the situation. They have never contacted me since. I had hoped for changed behavior from and reconciliation with my ex, which explains my waiting this long, but that seems unlikely. My question deals with how to go forward. I need to rebuild my credit which was in the high 600s before the house mess. I cannot see myself moving back in- I can't safely live in the neighborhood alone with 2 kids, and do not wish to because of their school. I can cash in retirement accounts to catch the mortgage up but ex has let property go, and many repairs have to be done to get the house ready for sale. What should I do now? All other joint debts have been paid on time by me.
Are you on the loan as well as the title? If you are on the loan, the only remedy is to have the lender work with you. I assume the house is upside down. The only way to not hurt your credit further is to keep the house from foreclosure, by working with the lender to sell the house using your funds to complete the payoff to your lender. If you foreclose, do a deed in lieu or a short sale, all lenders will treat that as a foreclosure and you would have to wait atleast 2-3 years. If you can save the property from foreclosure, and you can prove that the loan was to be paid by hus, in divorce decree, then the lender might not count the lates against you. Good luck!