• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Owner of home with Ex-Fiance (Adverse Possession?)

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

hellohelp

Junior Member
Living in Florida

My ex and I were together for 20 years. I have a home that I've owned with my ex-finance since 1999, 10 years now, which is on the market. It's worth approximately $380K. He moved out almost three years ago with the stipulation that I would pay the house payment and he would pay taxes and insurance. He had said if the house ever sells I will be entitled to $200. His name and my name are both on the deed.

BACKGROUND: In 2004 he refinanced our existing mortgage with a loan in his name alone at $98K. Don't know how that happened but I now have no mortgage on the home. Five years later "his" mortgage is still at $95K, only $25K less than the $120K that we originally financed in 1999, 10 years earlier. Our agreement when he moved out was that I would pay "his" mortgage, have the payments deducted out of my checking account, and he would pay the taxes and insurance. I've just found out that he did not pay the 2007 property taxes, which the bank "forced" onto "his" mortgage, and he "forgot" to pay two months of flood insurance which was forced onto "his" mortgage at $1,800 for two months flood insurance. Due to the fact that the mortgage has really not decreased much over the last 10 years, I am now suspicious that he has commingled investments into the refinancing of the mortgage that he obtained in his name alone. He says he has not.

Now I am thinking about stopping these automatic mortgage payments from being deducted from my account until I get an explanation for the discrepancies and I am also concerned about am I or is he possibly entitled to adverse possession on this property? He has made all payments on the taxes except apparently for '07 since we built the home. He has been out of the home for almost three years now. How long can I hold onto the home without him doing something about it? Can he kick me out if it remains unsold? I feel I need to do something at this point, almost that I should demand something from him, stopping payments, possibly a quit claim deed from him and refinancing personally to get out of this mess. What would be your suggestions and/or solutions?

NOTE: In Florida, the duration of such possession under color of title is seven (7) years. To claim real estate by adverse possession without color of title, a person must have possession for a period of seven (7) years and pay the assessed taxes. Florida Code §95.16-.18
 
Last edited:


FlyingRon

Senior Member
Adverse possession doesn't apply here. You already own the property.

You have this agreement in writing somewhere? I can't tell from your limited and confusing story exactly what has happened here, but frankly, five years into a 30 year refi loan probably is only going to have dropped the principal balance as you say. That coupled with the info on your original loan doesn't seem at all out of line.

You stop making payments (and presuming he doesn't pick them up), then the lender will foreclose, and you will LOSE ownership in the property and be evicted. The tax payments not being made will likely cause similar issues in the long run.

If you are selling the property, you can try to reclaim some of the money that he was supposed to pay MAYBE.

You should go to a lawyer now to:
1. Formalize the agreement if it is not.
2. Figure out how to get him to live up to the responsibility to pay the taxes
3. Figure out how to handle the sale proceeds.
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top