Posted on: 17th Nov, 2010 08:19 pm
Hi! My boyfriend and I have a joint tenancy and a mortgage payment. We broke up and I'm staying with my parents temporarily. I can't afford to keep the house so I would like to find an apartment, but my ex refuses to re-finance to put the mortgage in just his name, and he also won't sell it. He basically said that my name is on the mortgage so I have to continue to pay my half. If I break the joint tenancy how does that affect the mortgage, and how can I go about removing myself? I think he wants to force me to have to move back in.
Baffled, you're in a tough spot. Your ex is correct in that you are still responsible for payments. Of course, that doesn't mean that he can exactly force you to pay. If you neglect to do so, here is what the ramifications would be: a) your credit would suffer if he was unable to make the entire payment on his own; b) he'd be unhappy - but I suspect he already is; c) ultimately, of course, if he can't make payments without your help the lender could foreclose and that would further hurt your credit standing.
You can't exactly "break" the joint tenancy. It remains in place unless and until you and he reach some sort of agreement on how to proceed, and of course the best method for you is, as you noted, a quit claim of your interest to him and a subsequent refinance of the mortgage as a single obligation for him.
He can't exactly "force" you to move back in, can he? That would seem to be somewhat (or more) illegal, anyway. And Neil Sedaka was right - "breaking up is hard to do."
You can't exactly "break" the joint tenancy. It remains in place unless and until you and he reach some sort of agreement on how to proceed, and of course the best method for you is, as you noted, a quit claim of your interest to him and a subsequent refinance of the mortgage as a single obligation for him.
He can't exactly "force" you to move back in, can he? That would seem to be somewhat (or more) illegal, anyway. And Neil Sedaka was right - "breaking up is hard to do."