My ex-wife has not refinanced the house

dnsmalley · Nov 19, 2009

INDIANA:
My ex-wife and i have been divorced for almost three years now, and she has yet to refinance the house as the divorce decree instructed her to do, she is now apparently unable to secure refinance from her personal bank, but refuses to shop around with refinance companies... I am now wanting to buy a house with my new wife...but am unable to until that old house is out of my name. I am a veteran and have made large steps towards getting my credit score to a level where i can acquire financing...and have offered to take the house back over from her and refinance it myself...but she refuses to want to take the easy route, even though she cannot afford the house, and her continued unwillingness to explore her options for refinance are affecting credit decisions on my behalf...

What can i do to get my name off of that loan and protect my credit?

mistoffolees · Nov 19, 2009

dnsmalley said:
INDIANA:
My ex-wife and i have been divorced for almost three years now, and she has yet to refinance the house as the divorce decree instructed her to do, she is now apparently unable to secure refinance from her personal bank, but refuses to shop around with refinance companies... I am now wanting to buy a house with my new wife...but am unable to until that old house is out of my name. I am a veteran and have made large steps towards getting my credit score to a level where i can acquire financing...and have offered to take the house back over from her and refinance it myself...but she refuses to want to take the easy route, even though she cannot afford the house, and her continued unwillingness to explore her options for refinance are affecting credit decisions on my behalf...

What can i do to get my name off of that loan and protect my credit?

You go back to court to have her held in contempt. I would tell the judge that you want him to order the house sold if she can't secure a commitment on financing within 30 days. You will have to make sure that the judge is specific in his order. If he simply orders her to put it on the market, she can list it at 3 times its value and it will never sell. Instead, ask for it to be listed at the lowest of 3 realtor recommended listing prices or something like that.

LdiJ · Nov 19, 2009

mistoffolees said:
You go back to court to have her held in contempt. I would tell the judge that you want him to order the house sold if she can't secure a commitment on financing within 30 days. You will have to make sure that the judge is specific in his order. If he simply orders her to put it on the market, she can list it at 3 times its value and it will never sell. Instead, ask for it to be listed at the lowest of 3 realtor recommended listing prices or something like that.

HOWEVER...please keep in mind that if part of the reason she cannot refinance is because the mortgage is upside down or close to being upside down, then its going to hurt your credit score if the home is sold in a short sale. Therefore, if the home is sold you may not be in any better position than you are in right now to finance another home.

Nor would you be able to refinance it either.

dnsmalley · Nov 19, 2009

I believe the home should still be very close in value to the amt of balance on the mortgage... I would be just as happy for the judge to award possession of the property to me if she is unable to secure financing within a certain time period... is that something that happens often? or will it be forced to sell either way?

Zigner · Nov 19, 2009

dnsmalley said:
I believe the home should still be very close in value to the amt of balance on the mortgage... I would be just as happy for the judge to award possession of the property to me if she is unable to secure financing within a certain time period... is that something that happens often? or will it be forced to sell either way?

And what would you give her in return for giving up her house?

LdiJ · Nov 19, 2009

dnsmalley said:
I believe the home should still be very close in value to the amt of balance on the mortgage... I would be just as happy for the judge to award possession of the property to me if she is unable to secure financing within a certain time period... is that something that happens often? or will it be forced to sell either way?

When refinancing a home, you need to have 20% equity in most cases. If you believe that the house would sell for about what you owe, then neither of you would be able to refinance the house at this time.

It also means that you are likely to either have to bring money to closing, or again, end up with a short sale.

The judge could only award the house to you if you were able to refinance. Based on what you have described, you would not be able to do so either.

mistoffolees · Nov 19, 2009

LdiJ said:
When refinancing a home, you need to have 20% equity in most cases. If you believe that the house would sell for about what you owe, then neither of you would be able to refinance the house at this time.

It also means that you are likely to either have to bring money to closing, or again, end up with a short sale.

The judge could only award the house to you if you were able to refinance. Based on what you have described, you would not be able to do so either.

The only other option is for the judge to give him the right to control the sale to prevent her from sandbagging as she's already done.

I don't know, but I suspect the judge would rather first order her to sell the house and then if she makes no effort, OP might be able to ask for the right to control the sale, but it's conceivable that the judge would let him control it from the start since she has delayed so much already.

eagle927 · Jan 19, 2011

In the same boat

dnsmalley said:
INDIANA:
My ex-wife and i have been divorced for almost three years now, and she has yet to refinance the house as the divorce decree instructed her to do, she is now apparently unable to secure refinance from her personal bank, but refuses to shop around with refinance companies... I am now wanting to buy a house with my new wife...but am unable to until that old house is out of my name. I am a veteran and have made large steps towards getting my credit score to a level where i can acquire financing...and have offered to take the house back over from her and refinance it myself...but she refuses to want to take the easy route, even though she cannot afford the house, and her continued unwillingness to explore her options for refinance are affecting credit decisions on my behalf...

What can i do to get my name off of that loan and protect my credit?

I am in the same boat as you only my ex is in Ky and has been in waiting 12 yrs. we need to keep in touch so we can help each other I have a loan officer contacting her to refinance the home to get it out of my name and if she don't I will have to take her back to court.... my score is right but can not buy other house till this house is in her name the deed is in her name already.

My ex-wife has not refinanced the house

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dnsmalley

Junior Member

mistoffolees

Senior Member

LdiJ

Senior Member

dnsmalley

Junior Member

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney

LdiJ

Senior Member

mistoffolees

Senior Member

eagle927

Junior Member

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