One mortage, both parties signed. One just walked away. Help!?

[mel02kix]

My brother and his (ex)girlfriend bought a house in Texas last year. The house is in both names. The utilites, in hers. A few months ago, she took her young child and left him for someone else. Since then, she has agreed to pay for her half of the mortgage but refuses to pay for the utilities and the upkeeping of the house/pool. She left voluntarily. No one told her to leave. She's starting to get nasty about the whole situation. She complains she doesn't need to pay for certain things because she no longer lives here. This morning, she cancelled the utilities. The locks haven't been changed. He doesn't plan on selling the home. Why should he?
My question is, what options does my brother have? How can he get her name off the house without screwing himself over? Does he have the upperhand?

[Antigone*of*Greece]

Originally Posted by mel02kix

My brother and his (ex)girlfriend bought a house in Texas last year. The house is in both names. The utilites, in hers. A few months ago, she took her young child and left him for someone else. Since then, she has agreed to pay for her half of the mortgage but refuses to pay for the utilities and the upkeeping of the house/pool. She left voluntarily. No one told her to leave. She's starting to get nasty about the whole situation. She complains she doesn't need to pay for certain things because she no longer lives here. This morning, she cancelled the utilities. The locks haven't been changed. He doesn't plan on selling the home. Why should he?
My question is, what options does my brother have? How can he get her name off the house without screwing himself over? Does he have the upperhand?

Why on earth should she pay for utilities when she is not living there? Tell brother to have the utilities turned on in his own name. Tell him to change the locks. He can't get off off the title of the house without her agreement. No he does not have the upperhand. In fact if she decides to stop paying her half of the mortgage, then his behind may be out on the street.

[GaAtty]

Probably the best thing your brother can do is learn from this experience and not be so stupid in the future as to buy property with someone else in a situation in which there are questions as to permanency. The next best thing he can do is get busy trying to buy her out and get her off of the title. He can refinance to buy her out, or just get the cash some other way. She probably should help pay for upkeep but it's probably going to be more problem than it is worth to get the money out of her. Better to spend his time getting the house in his name only.

[nextwife]

Brother should find a roommate, properly screen them, and offset his overhead, if he cannot afford his own utilities.

One should never buy a house with a copurchaser that has no legal connection to tghem, and then fail to get an operational agreement covering who is legally responsible for what and what resolution needs top be used if one party wants out.