Private Mortgage Foreclosure

[RadarLove]

My husband and I have a home in PA. He has filed for divorce and we are separated. My children and I are living in the marital home. Since the divorce, his mother has filed for past monies owed by a private mortgage held between my husband and her (his mother). This was never disclosed to me and our deed is a warranty deed. She is sending me threatening letters to pay the balance owed plus interest or foreclosure will occur. In our divorce he claims he wants the home, yet he is not paying back his mother. Can she foreclose on a home that is jointly owned through a warranty deed? Can the mother be cited for defamation/liable, since she is publishing that I owe money to her, which is untrue? Can the husband be held liable for fraud, since now he's claiming there was a private mortgage that he didn't disclose when the deed was transferred?

I believe these are threats either hoping I will move through harrassment or pay monies that I do not owe. Throughout our marriage, he has funneled monies to his family claiming he owed for past home repairs.

[nextwife]

Originally Posted by RadarLove

My husband and I have a home in PA. He has filed for divorce and we are separated. My children and I are living in the marital home. Since the divorce, his mother has filed for past monies owed by a private mortgage held between my husband and her (his mother). This was never disclosed to me and our deed is a warranty deed. She is sending me threatening letters to pay the balance owed plus interest or foreclosure will occur. In our divorce he claims he wants the home, yet he is not paying back his mother. Can she foreclose on a home that is jointly owned through a warranty deed? Can the mother be cited for defamation/liable, since she is publishing that I owe money to her, which is untrue? Can the husband be held liable for fraud, since now he's claiming there was a private mortgage that he didn't disclose when the deed was transferred?

I believe these are threats either hoping I will move through harrassment or pay monies that I do not owe. Throughout our marriage, he has funneled monies to his family claiming he owed for past home repairs.

Was the house premarital property? IS there a legally executed mortgage to mom that preceded your ownership?


Did you and he acquire the house together or did he add you to the deed later?

If she does have a valid mortgage she has a right to collect on it, and this would NOT be defamation. If she has a valid mortgage, you and hubby needs to sell the house and pay her off before it is foreclosed- or bring the loan current if you want to keep the house and it has not "matured" and is due in full. The other option would be to refi and pay her off. Have you reviewed the mortgage in question? Is it recorded?

As an occupant and a spouse of the borrower, she would have to include you in the service/publication process - this is required.

If you did not search the title before acquiring your interest, you cannot know if there were prior liens. The warranty deed does not take a lender's rights away as regards a PRIOR interest. The timeline of the mortgage is important to know. When was it done in relation to your interest?

[RadarLove]

Yes it was premarital property. He lived here. There is a legally executed mortgage to mom that preceded your ownership but never disclosed to me. He told me she bought the home as a gift. He added me to the deed after we were married. For the first 10 years of the mortgage nothing was collected nor did she demand payment or foreclose on. We've only been married 8 years. I have monies vested in the house, since I paid to have it remodeled in the first five years of marriage. (He just began working three years ago).

The deed was transferred 6 years into our marriage. If I agree to pay the monies owed, that removes his debt. How does that work in a settlement agreement? Do I get to offset that as a liability?

[nextwife]

Originally Posted by RadarLove

Yes it was premarital property. He lived here. There is a legally executed mortgage to mom that preceded your ownership but never disclosed to me. He told me she bought the home as a gift. He added me to the deed after we were married. For the first 10 years of the mortgage nothing was collected nor did she demand payment or foreclose on. We've only been married 8 years. I have monies vested in the house, since I paid to have it remodeled in the first five years of marriage. (He just began working three years ago).

The deed was transferred 6 years into our marriage. If I agree to pay the monies owed, that removes his debt. How does that work in a settlement agreement? Do I get to offset that as a liability?

Your interest was acquired subject to any prior liens. Your half share of equity is the value or sale price MINUS any prior liens. That is, if the home is not foreclosed first. You need to have your divorce attorney first prepare an agreement to have half the total payoff funds deducted from his half of the RE.