Along the lines of Desert_Rocket's thread about his friend, I want to lay out the case of my friend and see if anyone knows any resources or has any ideas that might help her. She has been a stay-at-home mom for 15 years. Her husband is a professional. They have four kids between 9 and 15. Six years ago they went through a bankruptcy in North Carolina. Two years ago somehow they found a lender who would lend her almost $300,000 in name to buy a house. Yes, that's right... the mortgage is in her name only. Keep in mind: she hasn't had a job in over 15 years. Their house payment is about $2700 with a 9.25% interest rate and "she" is four months behind. A few days ago she got a foreclosure notice which would require her to move by the end of February. Six months ago, he left her and rented a small house ($1000/month) to be his love-shack and bought a new car ($750/month). His is a history of serial infidelity over a decade. She is a bright, beautiful, funny, spiritual woman. Go figure. She never has enough money to feed the family regularly or even go out and have some fun. Now they are about to be out on the street. I don't know why they went into this house. I don't know how they cajoled a lender into lending her the money but they did and these are the facts. Anyone know anything that would help beside a committee would beat the stuffing out of him...
Where is the house located? If circumstances are right I'd be willing to take over......let me know..
The problem is that the lender probably based the loan on household income. That would include the husband's income. Now that he has left, she does not have the resources to make the house note. If she had regular income (which can be ordered by a family court) sufficient to make periodic payments to a trustee, I would advise her to file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. In a Chapter 13, she can get up to 60 months to cure the arrearage by making payments to a court appointed trustee. When there is a foreclosure pending, I file 13 for my clients if the lender is unwilling to enter into a restructuring.
Greensboro, NC. Stable neighborhood. What circumstances are you referring to? Email me through the board if you have specific questions.
While he has left, they are not formally separated. She has engaged an attorney to prompt his being more financially responsible. Their household income is his income. She literally hasn't had a job in 15 years. I've been encouraging her for years to at least get a part-time job while the kids are in school but so far no-go. Can't figure...
That is an awful situation for her to be in. She should get a part-time job, at least to get some income going if her husband left her. (That makes me mad that he would leave her in this situation!!!)
The truly sad thing is that he left her in every other way years ago... Didn't even show up for the birth of their fourth child-- now almost 9.
Has she thought about trying to rent the place out? Then she could try to stave off foreclosure and keep her credit intact.
You'll have to get a lawyer in her jurisdiction to check to make sure, but it doesn't matter that the house is in her name. It's more than likely community property. If you ask me, the only smart thing to do in this case is divorce him.
I don't know what the laws in her state are, but in Texas this would be true. Unbelievable that they could get a mortgage in her name only. A good example of the out of control mortgage industry that we're seeing blow up for a hell of a lot of people.
It is more common than you would think. In Texas, only one of the spouses has to be on the title to the house (and hence, the mortgage). Both spouses must sign the deed of trust. I have seen situations where one spouse has good credit and the other has crappy credit. You use both spouses' income for the application and approval, but only the good credit spouse has their credit pulled and the loan is approved. BTW...my understanding is that NC does not use the community property system. The law there is very different from Texas.
In NC, the promissory note can be held in one persons name while the property is considered Tenancy by Entireties.(Both own 100% of equity). The only different part is who has the Deed of Trust. Usually the lawyer gets the Deed of Trust in NC. In Colorado, the citizens of Colorado get the Deed of Trust. Translation: Miss No-So-Smart is 100% responsible for paying back the loan. Both sides must sign the deed to sell it.
OUCH. Sometimes, protecting your family and saving your marriage are mutually exclusive. Someone needs to convince her to do the smart thing.
Didn't show up for the birth of a child? Sounds like she's known for a long time that this marriage was over. No doubt the guy is an a-hole, but she sounds more than just a bit complicit for the situation she is in--she needs some tough love. And a job.
I'm sorry, but that chick sounds really really dumb. He's left her He's paying for another place to shack up with other women He's been messing around on her for years He hasn't provided for his children He wasn't even there for the birth of one of his kids He's not doing anything to resolve their current predicament She needs to accept that her marriage is over. Amazingly, she has four kids with that guy. And what kind of an idiot gets a $300k mortgage at 9.25% ?!?!? That's amazingly stupid. So, she's terrible with money. She's terrible with men and relationships. She doesn't even realize that her marriage is over. She just doesn't sound very bright.
