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anyone experienced this? (ex wife + house question)

S

Semidevil

Diamond Member
Ok, so here are the bullet points

- Married in 2005, bought a house (refinanced once). both of our names are currently on the mortgage
- divorced in 2009
- did not refinance to take her name off the mortgage because housing wasn't the best, the value of the home was not high, and we just refinanced (unaware of the divorce). instead, we have a notarized submitted to the court that the house belongs to me, and she forfeits all responsibility
- 2012, ex wife is in another country and is trying to buy a house. she can't because it shows she has a large debt (my house).
- she texts me and asks me to refinance the house to get her name off so she can get rid of that debt on her credit.

Personally, I do not want to refinance because I already refinanced once and the closing costs were added on once if I refinance again, it will be more costs a second time and I will be back to square one.

Nothing against her at all, I just want a way to resolve this. Any one have any experience in this?

So a few questions:
1. Legally, she can't force to refinance right?
2. For her sake, is there anything I can submit to her or whomever her bank is to say that I'm fully responsible for the house (which I am actually)
3. No other way to take her name off of it?
 
Here in Connecticut my ex signed a Quit Claim Deed to the marital house at our divorce finalization.
 
I looked into this recently and it seemed damn near impossible to just get her name off without refinancing. You might consult with a lawyer.
 
Why would you not want to refinance when rates have dropped so much? It's possible you could refi and end up with a 15 or 20 year mortgage for the same monthly payment as you currently pay.


Posted from AnandTech Forums Reader for Android
 
You quit paying on the loan, the bank will come after your ex just as much as they will you. That notarized piece of paper to them is toilet paper. You may want to just refi just to get out from having to deal with the ex, but legally you aren't required.
 
apac said:
Why would you not want to refinance when rates have dropped so much? It's possible you could refi and end up with a 15 or 20 year mortgage for the same monthly payment as you currently pay.


Posted from AnandTech Forums Reader for Android
Click to expand...

I guess I could. I just need to do the math (my current rate is 6.00% since 2009). I know that rates are 3 to 4% maybe?

I don't live in the home right now, and have been leasing it out for a few years now, and was just waiting for the time to sell it so I can get rid of that last piece of property.
 
Typically, the quit claim deed is only signed after the home has been refinanced and the person signing the quit claim is no longer on the mortgage.

It seems she did you a huge favor by signing the quit claim deed. You could easily make sure she regrets her decision to help you, by not refinancing and removing her name from your mortgage.

IMO, you need to return the favor by refinancing and removing her name from your mortgage. Quickly. Otherwise, you are being a douche. No matter the cost.

You and her made a mistake by not doing it properly the first time. In my experience, education is expensive. You are learning a lesson by spending money to fix your mistake. You could have paid an attorney to finalize your divorce properly but saved that money to pay for refinancing now.
 
chusteczka said:
You and her made a mistake by not doing it properly the first time. In my experience, education is expensive. You are learning a lesson by spending money to fix your mistake. You could have paid an attorney to finalize your divorce properly but saved that money to pay for refinancing now.
Click to expand...

i agree
until the the house is sold or refi , you haven't completed your financial split

good luck
 
chusteczka said:
Typically, the quit claim deed is only signed after the home has been refinanced and the person signing the quit claim is no longer on the mortgage.
Click to expand...
That makes no sense.

In that situation why would a Quit Claim Deed be required? That person isn't on the mortgage. How could they quit claim to property they aren't part of?
 
iRONic said:
That makes no sense.

In that situation why would a Quit Claim Deed be required? That person isn't on the mortgage. How could they quit claim to property they aren't part of?
Click to expand...

The quit claim deed takes her name off the title of the property. The refi takes her name off as a guarantor of the mortgage. Very different.
 
iRONic said:
That makes no sense.

In that situation why would a Quit Claim Deed be required? That person isn't on the mortgage. How could they quit claim to property they aren't part of?
Click to expand...

Mortgage is just a loan. Deed shows ownership of a house. For example, a friend of mine is the owner of a home as shown by the deed, but bc of poor credit, the mortgage is on his brother's name.
 
D1gger said:
The quit claim deed takes her name off the title of the property. The refi takes her name off as a guarantor of the mortgage. Very different.
Click to expand...

NetWareHead said:
Mortgage is just a loan. Deed shows ownership of a house. For example, a friend of mine is the owner of a home as shown by the deed, but bc of poor credit, the mortgage is on his brother's name.
Click to expand...
I understand the difference. In CT once you re-fi a new deed is generated to reflect the new mortgage holder. In chusteczka's post the property has been re-fi'd.
 
iRONic said:
I understand the difference. In CT once you re-fi a new deed is generated to reflect the new mortgage holder. In chusteczka's post the property has been re-fi'd.
Click to expand...

Refinancing generates a new deed only in that it registers a new mortgage with the single guarantor. It does not remove the other title holder from the property unless a quit claim is done at the same time, or in chusteczka's post after the re-fi. Both are still required.
 
Is the fact that he is no longer living in the house and renting it not a consideration here? I would think the rates you get are not the same as one gets on an "investment property" which might make refinancing more financially disadvantageous.
 
This should have been done at time of divorce. Now you have to incur closing costs. Its possible that you may be able to get a better deal due to low interest rates, so that will work in your favor anyway. IMHO, your ex-wife should pay for any costs that come out of this.
 
A quit claim deed, quits or removes a person's claim to a property. This implies a person previously had ownership. I am not certain of the legality of things but expect the mortgage and property ownership are handled separately.

Thanks D1gger for answering above since I am not familiar enough with the situation to have been able to answer iRONic's questions as you did.
 
You may not be able to refinance for a much better rate since it isn't your primary residence. Also, you'll need to have 20% equity in it to do so since it is higher risk for the banks as it is a rental.
 
I went through something similar.

My wife owned a house, I moved in with her (before we married), my name was put on the second mortgage that we used to pay bills. We divorced some years later, I could not buy a house because in WI her debt is my debt (beyond the second mortgage, that is her car loan, student loan, the first mortgage with just her name on it, etc.) To buy a house I had to submit the divorce paperwork to show that she owns the property after the divorce. But, because my name was still on the second mortgage, that was still factored in when figuring out my debt to income ratio. I was able to buy because my debt to income was still ok... but, long story short here, there is not a way to get off the mortgage she signed until you refinance in your name alone. At least that is how I understand it to work.
 
I could have sworn a relative of my did this and simply had to have the bank remove one person from the loan. I don't think he had to do a full refinance, it was just some papers he had to sign.
 
Semidevil said:
I guess I could. I just need to do the math (my current rate is 6.00% since 2009). I know that rates are 3 to 4% maybe?

I don't live in the home right now, and have been leasing it out for a few years now, and was just waiting for the time to sell it so I can get rid of that last piece of property.
Click to expand...

You'll want to consult a professional, ofc, but the general rule is that it's worth refinancing so long as you can drop a full point or more on a 30 year.
 
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