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A very foolish friend (against all advice and counsel) put his GF on the title to his home. She got a home equity loan for $80K and spent some of it on home improvements, maybe half.
Of course they're breaking up. At any rate he's not on the loan but she owns half of the house. She's trying to convince him the only solution is selling the house. I don't believe she can force him to sell the house at all. She's not going to ruin her credit and has just about enough in 401K savings to satisfy the loan if sued by the bank.
Aside from buying her out, via arbitration, what are his options?
Oh this is a doosy. My BFF bought a house in only her name, but when they did a HELOC her hubby had to be on that loan. He spent the 30K in a bipolar frenzy and then they divorced. She tried to short sale but he refused to sign off for the 2nd, no short sale for her. Had to file Ch 13. Hopefully this doesn't happen to your friend.
She's definitely reality challenged but very serious about maintaining perfect credit.
He isn't on the home equity loan and the mortgage has never been late.
My guess is that she's the one who's screwed... For now. He could probably afford to cover a second mortgage fort the actual amount spent making the improvements she had to have, if that meant getting her off the title but not a full $80K.
She does own half the house, though. I hope it doesn't end up one of those "nice guys finish last" stories. He's soft but really did think they were getting married and really wouldn't listen to anyone who warned him that this would happen. Any time someone said "Don't do it" he was convinced people either didn't like her or weren't being supportive.
is this something he agreed to or did she conveniently go behind his back and get approved with the bank without him knowing? wouldnt you need both signatures to get approved for an equity line of credit?!
He says no loan papers were signed beyond giving proof the home was half hers. He's going to the bank and asking for paperwork in the morning. I even asked about cosigning and so on but he denies ever signing anything beyond agreeing about her half ownership of the home.
He's an extremely emotional guy and not the type to look after himself, when in a relationship. Half the house was supposed to make her happy, LOL! He's not young so there's really no excuse for being this naive.
Kick in the pants? She was just trying to take out another $20K and pay down credit card debt less than two weeks ago. My guess is a lot of the $80K went to debts she incurred prior to hooking up with him. His house was essentially a shack and could have been rebuilt for less than $80K, it just happens to be in a nice area.
Your friend may need to see a lawyer. Not sure that she own half the house in the manner you might be thinking. Joint ownership can be complicated and who has what rights against the other for improvements to the property and the costs of those improvements is also complicated. I'd want to talk to a lawyer to find out at the very least how to prevent her from taking out further home equity loans.
Obviously your friend has big problems. Several things seem wrong here. I doubt a bank would use a house as collateral without signatures from all persons on the title. He needs to see a lawyer for this as it will be complicated and probably expensive.
I think everyone here is assuming that just because she is on title, that she gets half the value of the house. This may vary in different states, but that seems unlikely. There are way too many possibilities here to even guess at the outcome. It is safe to say that some attorneys will be happy that these two were so foolish.
@GregB wrote:Obviously your friend has big problems. Several things seem wrong here. I doubt a bank would use a house as collateral without signatures from all persons on the title. He needs to see a lawyer for this as it will be complicated and probably expensive.
I think everyone here is assuming that just because she is on title, that she gets half the value of the house. This may vary in different states, but that seems unlikely. There are way too many possibilities here to even guess at the outcome. It is safe to say that some attorneys will be happy that these two were so foolish.
+1.
No loan can be taken out on a house without the consent of everyone on the title. At some point in the application process your friend must have signed a document that allowed the loan to be made.
He needs a lawyer to help sort this out, without a doubt.
Update: Lawyer sent her an offer to buy his half of the house at half appraised value (used for home equity loan used for improvements, CC debt and the new car she had to have) and he's looking at a new house. Apparently the reality of his poor credit and likely inability to get a new mortgage hasn't set in.