cnscollison
Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Iowa
I purchased a house with an ex boyfriend in 1997, we broke about a year later. I let him have the house and he was supposed to have my name removed from the loan. I assumed that he did, when about 5 yrs later I was decline for a credit card and when I asked to them to send the explanation as to why, I received a credit report showing numerous delinquencies to the mortgage company. The late payments started in 1998 a few at a time, but by 2003 they were getting 3-4 mths behind. I didn't know what to do or what I could do, 2 years ago a co-worker told me to talk to his sister who was an attorney and dealt with real estate law. I retained her at that time, and we were trying to force him and his wife to re-finance. They had agreed through their attorney at that time to reimburse me $1000.00 for my legal fees and we did get a letter signed by my ex stating that all the late payments were his responsibility and in no way mine and that he had failed to get my name off the loan as promised. After a few months their attorney quit practicing and my attorney was eventually able to contact them directly to find out what their plans were. She gave them the name of a mortgage broker to go through since their credit was obviously bad at this point. They had contacted him and were making arrangements to have him purchase the property and buy it back on contract to get my name off the loan. This was around January of 2007, for the next year they were leading us on to believe that everything was proceeding, it was always just one more thing, and we even got confirmations from the broker. At that point they had paid $200.00 of the $1000.00 and said they were going to pay the remaining amount from the closing costs. The last contact we had from the ex and his wife was in December 2007 stating that it would be a matter of weeks and the house would be refinanced. Since then, nothing and the house is now in foreclosure, and the lender will not respond either. I have endured over $3000.00 in legal fees, including every time my attorney spoke with them directly, and my credit has been ruined for the past 8 years. I have run my credit report and have nothing else that is negative on it, just this one huge delinquency. Is it worth my time to sue them in civil court and ask for reimbursement for attorney fees and damages? I know that limit to sue is $5000.00, which won't help my credit, but would help with the fees I've already incurred. Also, if this would be worth my while, can I sue each of them for $5000.00 or are they considered a unit since they are married? I want some vindication since I can't buy a home, a vehicle, or even get a credit card on my own without paying outrageous interest rates, for something I didn't have any control over.
I purchased a house with an ex boyfriend in 1997, we broke about a year later. I let him have the house and he was supposed to have my name removed from the loan. I assumed that he did, when about 5 yrs later I was decline for a credit card and when I asked to them to send the explanation as to why, I received a credit report showing numerous delinquencies to the mortgage company. The late payments started in 1998 a few at a time, but by 2003 they were getting 3-4 mths behind. I didn't know what to do or what I could do, 2 years ago a co-worker told me to talk to his sister who was an attorney and dealt with real estate law. I retained her at that time, and we were trying to force him and his wife to re-finance. They had agreed through their attorney at that time to reimburse me $1000.00 for my legal fees and we did get a letter signed by my ex stating that all the late payments were his responsibility and in no way mine and that he had failed to get my name off the loan as promised. After a few months their attorney quit practicing and my attorney was eventually able to contact them directly to find out what their plans were. She gave them the name of a mortgage broker to go through since their credit was obviously bad at this point. They had contacted him and were making arrangements to have him purchase the property and buy it back on contract to get my name off the loan. This was around January of 2007, for the next year they were leading us on to believe that everything was proceeding, it was always just one more thing, and we even got confirmations from the broker. At that point they had paid $200.00 of the $1000.00 and said they were going to pay the remaining amount from the closing costs. The last contact we had from the ex and his wife was in December 2007 stating that it would be a matter of weeks and the house would be refinanced. Since then, nothing and the house is now in foreclosure, and the lender will not respond either. I have endured over $3000.00 in legal fees, including every time my attorney spoke with them directly, and my credit has been ruined for the past 8 years. I have run my credit report and have nothing else that is negative on it, just this one huge delinquency. Is it worth my time to sue them in civil court and ask for reimbursement for attorney fees and damages? I know that limit to sue is $5000.00, which won't help my credit, but would help with the fees I've already incurred. Also, if this would be worth my while, can I sue each of them for $5000.00 or are they considered a unit since they are married? I want some vindication since I can't buy a home, a vehicle, or even get a credit card on my own without paying outrageous interest rates, for something I didn't have any control over.
