House still on credit report

[birdsongg]

I have been divorced for 7 years. My ex got the house. I have gotten myself off the deed, but not off the mortgage. The mortgage company says he needs to do that. It costs over $500. He has something on his credit that does not show up on mine and claims he wants me to pay half of that. It does not say anything in our divorce about this obligation. I am looking to buy a house in the next year and need this house off my credit. He claims they will not refinance him with this judgement on his credit. What are my rights and how do I get this off my credit. I have fought on this for 7 years now. Its time he does something.

 

[sportsmom]

house on credit report

When I divorced, my ex got the house too, and I got cash. I signed a "quit claim deed" at the time of the divorce, giving him the house. The house shows up on my credit report, and all I had to do was show my quit claim deed and divorce decree showing he got the house when I went to buy my current house a year later. It was no problem whatsoever!

 

[birdsongg]

Thanks a Ton

Thanks.. now i dont have to push it and make life miserable for all...

 

[HomeGuru]

Caution: as long as the mortgage is still in your name, you are legally responsible. Thus if the spouse fails to pay or pays the mortgage payment late, your credit is affected. In addition, when you apply for a loan, the mortgage loan is considered your existing debt in the the principal amount. Ex: you gave the house up but there is an existing mortgage balance of $100K. On your financial statement, you have zero real estate asset (since you Quit Claimed the property) and you have a liability of the mortgage balance. A lender may decrease your borrowing power due to this fact.

In divorce situations, always specify in settlement that the spouse that gets the property will refinance the mortgage within an agreed upon period of time. If this was done, say within the first year following the divorce, birdsongg would be singing a different tune.

 

[birdsongg]

hmm

So this means that when I go to get financing on a new house, if the old one has not been refinanced(which at this time he is working on but can't because he has something on his credit report) this will diminish my chances of getting a mortgage. I have the quit claim deed... but nothing in the divorce stating anything about re-financing.

He has told me from the beginning that if there is ever an issue that involves the house that he would back me up with any kind of statement or paperwork that i needed to prove liability. I doubt that this would affect decisions of lenders though.

Well thanks for the info.. not that this makes me feel any better.

 

[MySonsMom]

As HomeGuru stated, if your X does not refinance (meaning taking your name off and including only his name) then it will always appear on your credit report that YOU have a prior obligation to that home. Meaning, regardless if you live there or whatever, it will look as though you are paying on that home. Your X took you for a fool on that ordeal. He got you to give up any claim to the home, but managed to hold you responsible for repayment on the home. Seek an attorney to have him court ordered to refinance....FAST!

Oh, and to answer your question about buying a home in the next year....It will never happen until you get your X's home taken care of. No one will approve you for a home if you are still financially responsible for this first home. Your also lucky he didn't take it a step further and didn't pay the mortgage, because then they would come after you. Then, you would be paying on a mortgage that your X lives in. It could get VERY ugly, you need to act quick!

[Edited by MySonsMom on 05-05-2001 at 11:11 PM]

 

[lgoss]

I am not an attorney. This happened to me. My ex got the house in the divorce, but, it didn't state that she had to refinance to take my name off. She didn't pay the payments, and it went into forclosure several times. She pays just enough to get it out of foreclosure. My credit is ruined. If it forecloses, the bank will come after my new home, and any assets that I have now. If the divorce would have stated that she had to refinance, I would not be going through this nightmare. I was told there is nothing I can do, but wait for foreclosure, buy the house from her, then turn around and sue her for the money I lost. But, my credit is still ruined.