bad credit from mortgage loans

[Anonymous]

I have bad credit from my previous mortgage loans. I went through a divorce and my ex husband was awarded with the property. I have legal documents stating that I am no longer responsible for it and I shouldnt be at fault for what ever happens to the property. So.. after a year of the divorce, the property went into foreclosure and now I have been getting calls from the debt collector and my credit is really really bad. Any way I can fix this to make my credit score better??

Stressed Out

[pizzadude]

Hi !  Welcome to the forums !  Sorry to hear about your issues with this house.  To help answer your questions can you provide some additional information ?

Who was on the mortgage loan that defaulted ?  Both you and your ex-husband ??  Or just your ex-husband ?

If you were on the mortgage loan, did you contact the lender to attempt getting your name removed from the loan based on the divorce settlement ??

I am not an attorney but I do not know if your mortage company would even have to agree to do this.

Is this showing on your credit report as a foreclosure and also as a collection ?

[Anonymous]

Hi Pizzadude
We were both on the loan. I am the borrower and he's the co-borrower. I had spoken to the lenders about removing my name off the mortgage but they told me I couldn't do that unless he refinance or sell the property. Also, on my credit report, it shows as forclosure. Thanks for answering my question.

[GregB]

The bad news:

I'm sorry to be the one to tell you that you are responsible for the bad debt on the mortgage along with your ex.

The mortgage holder was not a party to your divorce and CAN NOT be ordered to have you removed from the mortgage.

The good news:

Your ex seems to have violated the terms of the Judgement of Dissolution. You need to read that document very carefully and determine that.

If he did violate the agreement, you can go back to court and the judge will try to make further orders to help. You should have been monitoring the mortgage every month and gone back to court the instant one payment was late.

[GregB]

Some more information that may be helpful:

Different states have different rules on what can be used to pay for the mortgage in foreclosure. This is affected in some states by the type of mortgage.

What state? Was this a Purchase Money First Mortgage? Refinance? Did the foreclosure sale pay off the entire mortgage?

Best case is that they can only trash your credit and not come after you for any shortfall.

I would suggest you get all the paperwork from the mortgage company. You are on the mortgage so are entitled to it. I would then get your complete divorce file and see your divorce attorney.

[pizzadude]

----->  Your ex seems to have violated the terms of the Judgement of Dissolution. You need to read that document very carefully and determine that.

+1.   Unfortunately it looks like your only recourse here is to go back to court.   Sorry. 

[Anonymous]

I talked to my lawyer way before this post and they said they cant do anything for me because thats out of their reach. I would have to talk to a mortgage lawyer or someone who specializes in financial problems etc. Also, I have contacted my second lender for the mortgage and I sent them my divorce papers that stated I am not responsible for the property and my name was still on the loan but didn't report me to the credit report and my credit actually got a little better but then it got moved from another bank, got reported to the debt collector and they have been calling me everyday again.. I couldn't find out who is my first lender is since it kept moving to another bank after he failed to pay and the property went into foreclosure. So I'm unable to reach them and send in my documents. So now, I'm back to square one.