House Calls by Edith Lank

Dear Edith: My sister and her boyfriend bought a home one year ago; all payments have been on time. They broke up and now co-own a home which my sister wants to keep and the boyfriend wants to either sell or have my sister get a roommate to help pay the mortgage. My sister cannot handle it on her own. Boyfriend paid 10 grand into the home, sister paid 60. Homes are still going for the same rate she paid. What advice can you give in this situation? — Via e-mail

Answer: My first advice would have been a year ago, before they bought the house. I hope they had some written partnership agreement about who owned how much of the property. Or else I hope their deed says your sister owns a larger share than the boyfriend does (I'm too lazy to figure the percentages). Failing that, I hope theirs is a friendly breakup, because I suspect that as a co-owner he is entitled to half the proceeds when the place is sold.

I have no magic solution for your sister. Either she finds someone to help cover expenses, or else she agrees to a sale. She's in the same situation as divorced wives I hear from. It's disastrous to cling to a house she can't afford. Both their credit records are in danger and she'd probably lose the house anyway.

Years ago I received lots of those divorce questions. These days, I keep hearing about complications from the non-married, who don't even have the benefit of legal guidelines when they split. See the next item.

Get Her Name Off

Dear Edith: Now that we are going our separate ways, how do I get my name off of a house that my boyfriend and I purchased under a year ago together? I do not want anything to do with the house, just my name off of it. — J.

Answer: Taking your name off the house is easy. I'll bet what you're really worried about is taking your name off the mortgage, and that's not easy.

You and your boyfriend (ex-boyfriend) can both sign a new deed naming him as the only owner. The deed is entered in the county's public records, and your name is "off the house." I can't imagine he'd object to that.

But your responsibility for the mortgage is a separate matter.

You'll have to persuade him to take out a new loan in his own name and pay off the present mortgage. Or sometimes the mortgage company will agree to release you if he can prove he's making payments — say for a year — on his own. Perhaps some of the recent refinancing subsidies might help.

Your only other resource is to go to court and force a sale, which would probably end up with everyone losing money.

Next time think twice before buying a house with an unrelated partner.

Worth The Price

Edith: My business partner and I have shared ownership of a rental house since last September. My partner now wants to sell her share.

1. Does she need my consent to sell her share to someone else?

2. If I were going to buy her out, without hiring a lawyer, what kind of paperwork would we need? Would a quitclaim she signed be sufficient?

3. Is there any cost for transferring property ownership?

4. Also, while waiting to sell, she plans to let her brother use some parts of our house to store his things. Is there any recourse I can take to prevent him from using the house as his storage? Free advice please. — Via e-mail

Answer: Remember Alan Sherman's song about free advice? "...costs nothing and it's — worth the price!" But for what it is worth:

1. Your partner can sell her share without your consent. She just has to find someone willing to be a co-owner with you. She could also ask a court to force a public auction sale of the whole property.

2. Yes, a quitclaim deed signed by the partner would be enough to transfer her ownership. It must be in a form acceptable for the county's public records, though, including an adequate legal description and acknowledgement of her signature.

3. The state charges a transfer tax when property is sold, and there'd be a small fee to record the deed.

4. I think maybe I won't tackle the one about her brother storing his property in the house.

Edith Lank will respond personally to any questions sent to her at 240 Hemingway Drive, Rochester, NY 14620 (please include a stamped return envelope), or readers may e-mail her at ehlank@aol.com.

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