Mortgage Cosigner Legal Help

[19hunt92]

High level, we (wife and I) are tied into a mortage of an in-law, to me, that has gone south. Understand the idea that was signed into and have dealt/learned from that to begin with.
Now the current situation, we have been pushing for the in-law to refianance for over a year now as that was the agreement. Obvioulsy that has not happened and we (I) have learned that multiple payments have been missed. Fast forward, now i am being fully involved in this as it's getting to be a sticky family issue now, love these.

So to preset the question i am about to ask, I have learned that 45% of the payments have been missed, wifes credit is crap, we have not paid a single cent out onto this mortgage at this time. I addressed this with the other husband on the in-law side thinking a man to man discussion would be understood and the issue needs to be addressed proptly.
Fast forward to Christmas and i get a box thrown at me as this husband would rather throw hands at family christmas than keep this between 2 individuals and simple. All was avoided since I de-escalated the situation between us but now there is tension in the whole family.

SO now i ask, what legal options are there as a co-signer on a mortgage that an individual can take to get off of or at least put pressure on the mortgage owner? Can an individual sue for anything? Can we force anything (threaten forclosure?)
There is a lot of information to this but curious if anyone knew high level mortgage lawsuit stuff and if there is more info, feel free to send a PM.

ALSO, glad i could add to the holiday drama that you guys get to peak in on now Read and comment at your own leisure and hope someone has more information than what i can search up online

 

[tdhanses]

As a co-signer you’re on the hook, they expect you to know payments are made or not. While not an attorney, the can of worms this creates is why one should never co-sign anything for anyone other then a married couple.

Think this will be a lesson learned situation, the question you should ask is if the property is foreclosed on and the band sells for less then was mortgaged what will your possible tax burden be. Credit will take a hit unless payments are caught up and timely going forward.

Just quick thoughts that came to mind. I can’t think of any legal area you have unless you can assume the loan and start making payments. But then you probably couldn’t force them out and sell it.

 

[19hunt92]

As a co-signer you’re on the hook, they expect you to know payments are made or not. While not an attorney, the can of worms this creates is why one should never co-sign anything for anyone other then a married couple.

Think this will be a lesson learned situation, the question you should ask is if the property is foreclosed on and the band sells for less then was mortgaged what will your possible tax burden be. Credit will take a hit unless payments are caught up and timely going forward.

Just quick thoughts that came to mind. I can’t think of any legal area you have unless you can assume the loan and start making payments. But then you probably couldn’t force them out and sell it.

Oh there was a whole situation in prior years to this that I wanted to avoid but here we are is the short of it. I know there is almost no way on getting the high ground on this one but I would rather make this a legal issue rather than assault as has already been attempted.

I have some knowledge on what we can do if we force foreclosure on how to protect our assests as this has unfortuently been an issue for some time and we have already kept identities seperate incase of this.

That idea is already crossing my mind of if we seize based on percentage of principle paid? No idea if that is a thing

 

[Pickettpuncher]

I have no idea and nothing to add, other than don’t let the missed payments keep happening. I’d be in contact with a lawyer asap and a for sale sign in the yard as quick as I knew what the legalities of it were.

 

[HornPorn]

This sounds awful, you sound like too nice of a guy, and your inlaw sounds like a POS. You should get legal counsel ASAP (from a lawyer, not from us) and find a way to cut losses on this and get as far away from these people as possible.

 

[19hunt92]

This sounds awful, you sound like too nice of a guy, and your inlaw sounds like a POS. You should get legal counsel ASAP (from a lawyer, not from us) and find a way to cut losses on this and get as far away from these people as possible.

I have been too nice to try and keep peace but this is "the gloves are off" kind of situation now
I guess this is kind of my first poke at finding a lawyer. Getting the loan paperwork now to read over the fine print as well

 

[wyogoat]

I have been too nice to try and keep peace but this is "the gloves are off" kind of situation now
I guess this is kind of my first poke at finding a lawyer. Getting the loan paperwork now to read over the fine print as well

I agree with seeking the advice of an attorney. The only thing I can contribute is that in event of a divorce a refi can be ordered in a certain amount of time. While I know this is a different situation, the courts could get involved to force the refi. Which depending when the loan originated, may be terrible for those doing the refi with current rates. It would be much easier and cheaper for the family members to make it right and get the payments current if they are interested in staying in the house.
Regardless, good luck. I’m sure promises were made to you and you made a decision in good faith they would uphold their end so no judgement from me.

 

[elkliver]

2 different issues here. 1 is that you agreed to co-sign,. When you co-sign, YOU agree to pay the loan if the main borrower doesn't. YOU are responsible to pay that loan back. Any missed payments are in effect payments that you missed. If it goes to foreclosure, you will also suffer the consequences to your credit.

The other is recourse you might have in regards to the property if it doesn't get foreclosed. Yes, you can file suit to force a sale of the property. Since they haven't made their payments, a refinance is likely out of the question. If the property hasn't been over encumbered(***highly likely) , it may be possible to negotiate with the Lender to avoid foreclosure and then force a sale.... but it might have to start with making payments in order to bring the loan current.

 

[wapitibob]

Get an attorney. If you’re on the deed, quitclaim and get them off so you can deal with it as a singular owner.

 

[wyosteve]

A quit claim deed doesn’t impact the mortgage company’s rights. And a court can’t force a bank to do a re-fi. Get to an attorney in your jurisdiction yesterday!

 

[wapitibob]

A quit claim deed doesn’t impact the mortgage company’s rights. And a court can’t force a bank to do a re-fi. Get to an attorney in your jurisdiction yesterday!

I was thinking It gets the deadbeat off the deed so he can deal with the bank but it won’t get the deadbeat off the bank note.

 

[wyogoat]

Are the relatives willing to remove themselves from the note, vacate, and allow you to take it over and bring it back to good standing to then put on the market and maybe you can recoup some of your investment and headache?
Hopefully the property has at least appreciated in value.

 

[19hunt92]

I was thinking It gets the deadbeat off the deed so he can deal with the bank but it won’t get the deadbeat off the bank note.

The only instance I saw a quick deed issued was when a divorce occured to make it a clean separation. Wasn't sure how that could be forced in just a family disgruntled situation. May have to dig deeper/lawyer

 

[19hunt92]

Are the relatives willing to remove themselves from the note, vacate, and allow you to take it over and bring it back to good standing to then put on the market and maybe you can recoup some of your investment and headache?
Hopefully the property has at least appreciated in value.

We have asked and would prefer that actually due to the property market in the area...kind of what caused this to begin with. But that's a negative at the moment

 

[74Bronco]

A quit claim deed doesn’t impact the mortgage company’s rights. And a court can’t force a bank to do a re-fi. Get to an attorney in your jurisdiction yesterday!

Correct, the court can say you are forced to refinance, but they have zero influence over the bank. Bank is not required to make a bad loan. Get an attorney.

 

[KenLee]

I agree with seeking the advice of an attorney. The only thing I can contribute is that in event of a divorce a refi can be ordered in a certain amount of time. While I know this is a different situation, the courts could get involved to force the refi. Which depending when the loan originated, may be terrible for those doing the refi with current rates. It would be much easier and cheaper for the family members to make it right and get the payments current if they are interested in staying in the house.
Regardless, good luck. I’m sure promises were made to you and you made a decision in good faith they would uphold their end so no judgement from me.

Couldn't finance before, now credit is worse.

 

[Bubblehide]

For my state, the last time I checked (decades ago), the morgage holder has a legal obligation to notify the co-signed of any late payments in a timely manner. If they failed to do that, and if the law is the same then from a legal perspective, they can not require the co-signer to make up missed payments, no put negative info on the co-signers credit report. However, you will likely need legal support from an attorney. I experienced this on a vehicle loan decades ago, and was fortunate to simply let the bank know that I knew the law and would take legal action against them if they reported it on my credit. However, I was never notified until the vehicle had been repossessed. There were no different requirements for morgages at the time of my experience.

 

[KenLee]

I think beating him to death was the only viable option...
Cut your losses. Tell the bank to go ahead and foreclose.

 

[wind gypsy]

My cousin and her husband moved into my uncles basement as she went back to grad school. Her husband was "too sick" to come out of the bedroom during family christmas but I was thinking there might have been more of a shame problem. Shared to say I don't think he had anything as embarrassing as effing up the in-laws credit score by being a dead beat or taking it a step further and trying to throw hands at xmas! wow!

Feel for ya man, tough mistake. You must be a good family member to have if you were willing to help like that in the first place..

 

[KenLee]

I understand that OP knows this now, but this is for benefit of others.
I've been asked to co-sign multiple times.
My response is always"a co-signer is a fool with a pen. Go find yourself a fool."