Short Sale Against My Will?

[gasgirl]

Nevada:
My husband cosigned on his ex-wife's mortgage a few years ago (she had no credit-it was for the kids' sake). A year later, she was late on the mortgage, so we paid it to keep our credit up. She was not managing her money well, so we went to court and got an Order by the Judge which states that we can pay the mortgage if she doesn't, or is late, and deduct it from Alimony the next month. By the way, she receives $7250/mo. in Alimony and the mortgage is about $3100/month and is current.

We recently discovered she is trying to "Short Sell" the house, even has a buyer, for $200,000 less than the mortgage payoff! We have notified the Bank that we will NOT agree to a Short Sale (as it would hurt our good credit), and, because we have a Court Order to be able to take the mortgage payment out of Alimony, we feel there is no compelling reason to do so. She is entitled to another 6yrs of Alimony.

She says she is going to push this through anyway and even threatens to take us to court?! What CAN she do? Does she have any legal arguments that would force us to eat this house?

We are considering taking over this house in exchange for her foregoing any more Alimony payments. Good idea?

 

[gasgirl]

Additional Information

I forgot to mention that my husband signed Quitclaim Deed. Does that change anything as far as the Short Sale goes?

 

[FlyingRon]

If your husband quit claimed the property, he no longer owns it and has little say in whether it is sold or not.

He may be able to throw a monkey wrench into the the short sale agreement, however, if they're to the point of considering the short sale, I suspect she's already in default and your husband's credit is already being trashed. A foreclosure would trash it more than a short sale.

 

[gasgirl]

Loans are Current

There are two mortgages involved, and both are current. She is so unreliable, we have monthly alerts when payment has not posted by the 5th. Husband's Credit score is >750

He has contacted both banks involved and sent copies of court order allowing him to pay mortgage out of Alimony. Why would a bank still accept a short sale?

Can she take us to court and force us to agree to this? Would the judge allow the sale to proceed and allow us to pay off the difference ($200,000) and take it out of her Alimony?

 

[Who's Liable?]

Something is off here...

Either OP is not telling the entire story, or the ex-wife is trying to pull something illegal...

A short sale ONLY happens when payments have not been made for multiple months.

If the OP is indeed making the payments when the ex fails to, than the payments would be up to date, and the bank would not be attempting a short sale.

Does the mortgage payment go directly to the bank, or does it go to the ex who is supposed to make the payments? If it goes to the ex, than me thinks the ex is NOT paying mortgage but pocketing the money.

 

[gasgirl]

False Info to Banks By Ex?

After calling BOTH banks, it seems she filled out some sort of "Hardship" Package and for some reason, they said they would consider Short Sale.

The representatives at the banks cannot explain why they did not contact the Co-signor (my Husband). We are baffled that this process has progressed this far (the banks sent out a letter of acceptance of an offer even). They are investigating, as we think the Ex and the Realtor may have given false information to the Banks. The realtor seems to be driving this.

We pay the mortgage directly to the bank when the Ex is late, so we know absolutely that the mortgages are current.

We have not gotten anyone at either bank to give us assurances that this sale will not go through against our will. That is why I am here asking questions. This seems like a dream!

 

[nextwife]

If he did not retain any ownership interest, he likely has no say in the disposal of the asset, unless he can get a judge to issue an injunction.

 

[HomeGuru]

Who currently has title to the property?

 

[gasgirl]

Title vs Mortgage

The Ex-Wife has the title (by virtue of the Quitclaim), which I understand gives her right to sell the house.

But in this scenario, can she sell short and obligate us to the financial catastrophe that will follow (the bank has alluded to the fact they can come after any an all parties to recover money)? How can the bank possibly agree to a short sale when we have given them assurances the mortgage WILL get paid?

 

[nextwife]

This is one reason why one never quit claims their interest while still liable for the mortgage. We tell people over and over again to NOT quit claim unlessd a refinace of them off the loan is being done simultaneously.


The bank CAN because DH has NO say about the house being sold! He has ZERO ownership.

I'll say it again: Never, Ever, Ever, EVER agree to quit claim your interest while still on the mortgage. Not ever!

 

[gasgirl]

It gets better and better!

I agree, I never would have let my husband sign a quitclaim, except that a judge made my husband sign over title when he gave us the judgement to withhold alimony if she doesn't keep mortgage current.

After much discussion with the bank, wisely, they have refused a short sale, based on my husband's willingness to pay the mortgage.

Last night the Ex sent email demanding my husband pay for her to refinance, as she was denied a modification by the lender (she makes $7250 in alimony and chooses not to work).

So today, we get served- she is trying to sue us for the costs of refinance, which going to run over $60,000 (the payoff on the second mortgage), plus 2% of the balance of the 1st ($8,000). I think she is full of it (she is even representing herself, because she took 2 paralegal classes last year).

I cannot see that she has any legal grounds to demand this. Would any judge go for this? I do not have time nor the interest in retaining an attorney for this...

Original order, stated that My husband would sign title over to the Ex, and if she is 29 days past due on mortgage, my husband can pay the mortgage and deduct the amount from the next month's alimony. In addition, the judge ordered that the Ex refinance or sell the home within 3 years of the order. This order went in 15 months ago.

 

[HomeGuru]

What a mess.

 

[nextwife]

I know that many banks will refuse a "hardship modification" in cases in which the party is choosing to not work. It's a lot of chutzpah to ask others to do for you if you are unwilling to do for yourself.

 

[gasgirl]

Fine Mess

This I know, but does the Ex have any legal legs to stand on? I know you can try to sue anyone for anything, but what re the chances the judge will laugh this one out of court?

 

[nextwife]

Why does the other loan HAVE to be paid off? Won't they subordinate? They are already second. Or she could wrap the jr and sr loans together. Refinancing doesn't significantly ADD the indebtedness, it just moves it. The 60k shes talking about is presumably ALREADY a debt, right?