name on deed, not mortgage, foreclosure

[midnyteraine]

What is the name of your state? Pennsylvania

Hi, I'm hoping someone can provide some insight on a situation my husband and I are dealing with. His name is on the deed to his parent's house because he gave them $30,000toward their down payment, but is not on their mortgage. He said he was careful not to sign anything that would make his responsible for paying the mortgage. All this happened years before we met and married. His parents have been having financial trouble (main due to poor spending habits) and stopped paying the mortgage 6 months ago without telling anyone.

A few weeks ago my husband was served w/ papers notifying him of the beginning of the foreclosure process unless he or his family paid off the remaining mortgage of $147,000. He contacted the lawyers for the mortgage company and explained that he was not on the mortgage and therefore was not financial responsible for paying of the mortgage. They reassured him that since his name was on the deed, they simply had to notify him of the foreclosure attempt on a property of which he was part owner. His parents worked out an agreement with they lawyers to pay the back mortgage, but when the papers came, it listed my husband as one of the "defendants" and wanted him to sign in addition to his parents that they agree to pay the back dated mortgage as laid out in the contract, etc.
Since he is not on the mortgage and was never financially responsible for the house, he does not want to sign these papers and assume responsibility for their debt.

I guess I have quite a few questions. Can they come after him for money- he (or I guess I should say WE), have the money to pay off the debt, but do not wish to unless absolutely necessary. If he's not on the mortgage, can they somehow find him responsible because he's on the deed? He's going to call the laywers tomorrow and explain that he shouldn't be on the paper work since he's not on the mortgage and see if new papers can be drawn up, but who knows if that'll work. The deadline to send in the money and the signed papers is 3 days from now, so his parents are freaking out that he won't sign it (they are going to borrow money from another relative). If thier home is foreclosed, is this going to ruin his credit report? Will it say that a property that he part owns was foreclosed on? And also, can they come after money held in MY name just because we're married? I don't know if what is mine is also his based on Pa state laws. We were only married 2 weeks ago and are kind of new to this! As I reread this it sounds pretty heartless, like we are only concerned w/ ourselves, but really we want to find a way to help his family and still protect ourselves- we are just starting out and want to buy a home ourselves. Neither of us would let them go homeless if push comes to shove. I'd rather pay their damn mortgage than end up having them living in our spare bedroom- we're newlyweds remember! Anyway, that's so much for any insight anyone can offer. I anticipate us needing a real estate lawyer of our own.

[FlyingRon]

They are generally required to send the papers to all the registered owners of the foreclosure. This gives him a chance to defend his interest in the property.

No they can't come after him. The worst thing that is going to happen is that he's going to lose his interest in the property.

[midnyteraine]

You're right, that is exactly what the lawyers said this morning, that they had to make him aware of what was going on with the house and give him a chance to assume responsibility for payments to protect the money he has invested in the house. Thank you for taking the time to post!