can I still be added on to the deed of the house?

"an attorney" told you? was this an attorney who had anything to do with the way the title on your home appears at this time?

you didn't tell us where you live; various states have laws protecting spouses. perhaps that would apply in your case.

what was this "legal document" that you signed? did you cede all rights to the property for lifetime? i wouldn't think so.

are you and he no longer married? is that why your mother in law might kick you out?

way too many questions left unanswered here...fill us in appropriately and we can comment with more sensible answers.

i live in washington state, and no she doesn't know too much about property law but she was telling me that even though we live in a community property state it is possible to fall through the cracks so to speak he keeps everything seperate from me our credit isn't even combined even though we've been married for almost 10 years now we are still married but his mother doesn't like me at all. i am very confused about this the document i was reffering to is a quit claim deed! i was under the impression from the minute we walked in to the escrow office that i would be added on to the deed but nothing else. okay fine my credit sucks everyone knows that, and thanks to them for rubbing my nose in it i can't "fix" my credit if i can't get anything in my name i have no cars, no nothing in my name anyway that's not what my question is. i just want to know if it is possible for me to be added on to the deed of our house? i guess i'm just not getting why he should be able to buy a house in his name only. that just makes me think he could own other property, and i'd never know about it.

sorry for the half questions above, and thanks for any advice you can give also i have no idea if a quit claim deed is for life.. as i"m not even sure y i needed to give up my rights to the property in the first place. unless i'm reading it wrong

thanks,
melissa

i am not in a community property state, so i am suggesting you check out the washington state bar website, which is wsba.org. there you'll find information that will help you, i'm sure. i suggest you also speak with attorneys who have expertise in the area you're asking about. having an attorney who "doesn't know much about property law" tell you about property law is like having me tell you how to breastfeed. i've seen it, but i don't any personal experience.

that your credit "sucks" isn't usually enough for anyone to request that you give up your ownership rights. i hope you didn't sign the quit claim under duress; if you did, that's a whole other issue.

it seems there's a lot more there than simply a quit claim deed. i hope you can get some counseling or something to alleviate all this pain and suffering...soon.

Hello,

I read Melissa's post & I totally understand her confusion concerning why she was told by escrow to sign a quit claim deed at the time her husband signed for the loan on the house. Due to her credit problems she could not be on the loan, escrow slides a paper in front of her for her to sign telling her this is necessary for the loan to be processed, ie: husband won't be able to get loan, etc. wife signs not realizing until later that she has sign any legal interest in the home away.

I do not know when this sort of thing began happening, I am not sure if loan agencies or escrow offices have the legal right to do this, I was always understood that community property states were just that and included any property bought during the marriage no matter which spouse held the paper.

George, I don't believe she needs counceling alleviate pain, what she needs is someone to tell her why quit claim deeds have become necessary to be signed by the spouse not on the loan in order for the loan to be processed.

If you know the answer or anyone else who is qualified to answer can I believe this would help many people understand the quit claim issue.

thanks

I don't think all the lenders need the spouse to sign a quitclaim deed as he/she is not on the loan. However, in the community property states, the lender may ask the spouse to sign a quitclaim deed. This is because, the spouse would have community property rights to the property. If the mortgagor is unable to pay off the dues, the lender will foreclose the property. However, as the spouse has rights to the property, the lenders would have to satisfy the rights of the spouse. If the spouse signs a quitclaim deed, then he/she cannot demand his/her share from the property. Thus, in order to safeguard their interest, the lender wants the spouse to sign the deed.

Hi

I also agree with Ana, because there seems to be no other reason for the lender to ask you to sign a quitclaim deed. If you have an interest in the property and you do not sign the deed, you retain your ownership in the property. Thus, when the property is required to be foreclosed the lender will have to buy you out before they can sell the property to recover their loan amount. If your credit is good and you sign on the note as co-borrower, you need not sign the deed to give up your interest in the property.

it's hard to fathom that a lender would simply hand over a quit claim deed to an individual, as it allegedly did here, and insist that it be signed in order for them to grant a loan.

and this, especially so inasmuch as it appears that there was no legal advice provided to melissa here.

i'd like to suggest that melissa may have grounds for a suit against said lender due to the lack of advice, if that's what occurred.

Usually when a quit claim deed is signed at close in a community property state it's so one of the parties can hold title as his or her "sole and separate property". Was that the intent of your spouse all along? The other option would be to simply have you sign the deed of trust (mortgage) so that in case of default the lender can foreclose - not sure why they didn't just do that.