Cosigner Problem with Real Estate

[x-caliber]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Ohio

Briefly, I had a family member cosign for me when I bought my home 13 years ago. They had been pestering my wife and I for the last year to refinance. I had been looking into it, when I get a letter from their lawyer.

He says he advised the person not to quitclaim the deed, then contradicts himself 2 sentences later by saying the person would quitclaim if I agreed to refinance.

I called the mortgage co. they basically told me not do do anything unil I got a quitclaim out of the person. It "sounded fishy" to the mortgage co. The mortgage co, sent me a letter for them, telling them that inorder to remove the person from the loan they needed a quitclaim.

They threaten me later on in the letter stating, they would take an "action in partition" to force me to refinance anyway or lose my home in a sale.

I am at the point now where I will probably have to get an attorney. I have paid the bills here for 13 years.

Advice please.

[MinCA]

The family member co-signed for a house you otherwise wouldn't have. Now they ask you to refinance (and get them off the hook financially) and he will quitclaim all interest he has in the house to you.

As it stands, the cosigner OWNS half the house as cosigner. If you didn't make a payment, he would have to make it. Now all he's asking is for you to refinance so he's no longer liable. Maybe it's making it harder for him to buy a home or refinance one he has. Who knows?

It's not fishy that the attorney advised him to not quitclaim, then turns around and says that his client wants to quitclaim anyway. His client is entirely within his legal rights, as co-OWNER, to force the sale of your home and take half of everything. He is co-owner and doesn't want to be co-owner anymore. This is not a contradiction to tell you his advice to his client, and then tells you what the client wants to do. (If he were to rephrase and say that he advices not to quitclaim, but if his client really wants out, to have you refi before quitclaim, it still isn't a contradiction.)

So he's asking you to refi so he's not co-owner anymore. Only an idiot would quitclaim to you when he's still responsible for payments.

Either refi now and let him quitclaim the deed to you, or be prepared for him to force the sale of the house and take half of everything.

Afterall, would you sign over your half-ownership on a house if you would still be responsible for payments in the event the other person stopped paying?