Ex wife has house in foreclosure....again

[shazlett]

My soon-to-be's ex has their house in foreclosure for at least the 3rd time.  He signed over all interest in the house when they divorced but that didn't take him off the mortgage.  This is ruining his credit and has actually kept him from getting several jobs where employers run credit checks on potential employees.  Is there anything he can do to force her to sell the house or refinance it to get it out of his name?

Thanks!

[notnew]

I filed for bankruptcy and was released from the mortgage. Then I removed my name from the deed. The house was foreclosed, but no skin off my back because I had been freed.

Now,  it was a mistake to remove name from property and not the mortgage. He owns the debt and has no claim to the property. Bad move.

Why did he remove his name from the property?

Are there divorce papers or an order stating she gets the house and has to pay for it too? If so, he needs to provide copies to the mortgage company.

He also should petition the court to have her be required to refinance in her name only. This may be a moot point depending on the progress of the foreclosure.

Yes, it will be extremely damaging to his credit to have this reflected on his reports. He needs to contact the credit reporting agencies and give them the court order too so they have the proper information.

I don't know what he can do about this to keep it from effecting his credit rating due to the fact that he has waited this long. If she is in foreclosure, she likely can't refinance. On the other hand, if she wants to save the house and is getting offers from other companies to bail her out, if he lets her know that he is willing to let her go and refinance on her own with a new mortgage, that would remove his name from the financial part of the deal.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

[mistoffolees]

Some of this depends on the state. In my state, it is not possible to force someone to refinance. I had the option of:
a.  Put the title in her name but leave the mortgage in both names, but get indemnification from her that she is solely responsible.
or
b. Force a sale of the house

(a) sounds pretty risky (which I think is your point), but it's sometimes the best solution. In our case, the reasoning was that there's plenty of equity so there would be no likely scenario where she could owe more on the house than it would sell for, so I'd never be stuck for any cash in the future. Since she gives me an indemnification, if I get a bill from the mortgage company saying that their bill isn't being paid, I can use that indemnification to obtain a lien on the property - and could then force a sale at a future date if she stops paying.

As it actually turned out (due to some wierd antics at the third mediation session), I'm going to end up with the house, so the table will be turned. Deed will be solely in my name, but her name remains on the mortgage and I indeminify her to guarantee that I will pay it.

To the OP:
I would check your divorce documents. If she got the house and did not refinance, there should be a clause in there to protect you in some way (at least, there will be if you had a good attorney). It would probably look something like mine where you are indemnified in the event of non-payment and you would then need to see your attorney to slap a lien on the house and force it to be sold.

You should also give the bank a copy of your agreement so they know what's going on, but don't count on that protecting your credit rating. It can't hurt, anyway.

Finally, as far as losing jobs over it, I would be up front. BEFORE they do the credit check, give them a copy of the divorce decree and explain that the ex is responsible for the house and is not paying her bills and you're trying to resolve it. If everything else is clean, I would certainly accept that, but there's no guarantee. It's certainly worth a try since they're going to discover it, anyway.