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purchased home together but no longer together...what happens to the house?

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baf0507

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Massachusetts

my ex-boyfriend & i purchased our home abt 18 months ago - both names on motgage & deed (joint tenancy w/survivorship). we put 50/50 down & each pay 1/2 household bills. when we broke up as a couple he decided that we would continue to live in the house toghether as "roomies" for a few months & then make decision as to what to do about house.

unfortunately that did not work too well as he was doing less & less around the house - no cleaning, careless with my personal property, stopped taking out trash, etc - and refused to put any money towards repairs. we were arguing all the time & after an argument got physical the police were called & a 1 yr protective order was put into place

i am currently living in the house & paying the bills 100% as he has stopped contributing. i had to have several nesessary & costly repairs due to safety issues. the town threatened to revoke my occupancy permit if repairs were not done. these included some electrical, plumbing, furnace, mold removal; all of which i paid for myself.

at the 209A hearing ex's atty stated that her client wished to "walk away" from the home & had no intention of reimburseing me for any of the repairs as he did not authorize the work. i feel that he is responsible for 1/2 the repair work plus 1/2 the mortgage as long as his name is on the deed and mortgage.

because we have had the home such a short time i don't feel that he is entitled to 1/2 the assessed value but we need to figure out some type of buyout option & have his name removed from paperwork.

how do i go about getting his name off the mortgage & deed?
should i expect him to pay 1/2 the repairs and mortgage while name still on house?
 


indeep59

Junior Member
I'm not an attorney but you're situation sounds very similar to mine last year with a couple differences.

Ex gf and I bought a house,an expensive one, I put all the money down and put my credit on the line, mortgage was in my name only, but she was on title.
We broke up, I asked her to move out,(as only I could have afforded it by myself) and she refused, too emotional to move out,etc.
She wound up losing her job, and she contributed nothing to the bills etc, and I had to sue her to get her out. After a year and thousands and thousands of dollars of legal fees and settlement, I finally got her out.

Take it from me, sell the house and move on with your life.
Forcing someone off costs a LOT of money. In today's depressed housing market, its foolish to do so. And I regret the whole thing. Honestly.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
=baf0507;2492119]

how do i go about getting his name off the mortgage & deed?
first, he must be willing to negotiate a deal to do so. You cannot remove him, he must remove himself from the deed.

then, you will either need to assume the mortage in your name (check with your lender), refinance with a new mortgage in just your name and pay off the current one, or sell it

should i expect him to pay 1/2 the repairs and mortgage while name still on house?
you can expect what you want. forcing him to pay anything is another story. If you are going to end up with the house, look at it as you are fixing your house and paying for your house.

you have very little chance of collecting anything from him, at least through the courts but that does depend on the final outcome of the ownership situation though.
 

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