I am in a truly horrible predicament. I was divorced in 1999. The exwife and I jointly owned our home, and I was principal borrower and her, coborrower. We had a nasty divorce and as part of the settlement, I was required to donate my 1/2 interest in the house to her, which I did. So she is the "owner" of the house. The papers said that I would be "held harmless" if she defaulted on the loan, or whatever, but she hasn't worked since, and has not been able to refi in her name. We are not on speaking terms, so even though I remain as principal borrower, I never know what's going on with the account unless I call the mortgage company (they know me well). In the past 12 years, she has gone into foreclosure three times, and has done 2 loan modifications, somehow each time is able to catch up arrears and bring the account current. But, as you can imagine, this wreaks havok on my credit. On the most recent loan modification, she managed to get them to bring it current for the past 2 years and removed the lates. I was ecstatic. But in May 2012, she got a 30-day late and my score tanked 25 points.
She has remarried and actually lives out of state. The house in question is EMPTY. I estimate FMV would be around 125,000. The balance on the mortgage is $78k. Payment is 989/month. I made a written offer several times to move in to the house and take over the notes and buy out her equity. "No Way" she says. I have contacted the mortage company and BEGGED them to take me off the account, explained the whole situation, sent them my court papers, etc. Sorry, nothing they can do, they say. My only option as far as they are concerned is to pay the note myself. Pay the note on a house I do not own?
I believe my ex truly hates me, and this is a form of revenge for her. Every time she does a late payment or lets it go into foreclosure, it's a guarantee that my credit is screwed for the next 2 - 3 years. I certainly take responsibility for being naive and not getting something in the court papers requiring her to refi in her name. I also take responsibility for being immature and irresponsible on the things I did back then. But, when do I get to move on?
I'm sorry to go on and on like this, but this is a 30 year loan, and I am 44, so she could, essentially do this to me for the rest of my life. I was looking to apply for another mortgage to get my own house soon, but I seriously doubt anyone would give me a mortgage with all the lates on this one. My scores are in the low 600s at present and I am working hard at "gardening". I have a car loan for 33k, and a secured card.
Any help, ideas, suggestions, comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Starting Score: 675