Q-As a gratuitous act, my daughter’s ex-boyfriend put her name on the home he bought. The mortgage company required my daughter to sign along with him.
With the relationship over, my daughter wants to get off the house and all attendant documents because she doesn’t have any money in the deal.
The mortgage company refuses to remove my daughter’s name because the “mortgage is not assumable,” as they put it. To get her name removed requires the ex-boyfriend to refinance the mortgage, which he refuses to do.
Is there anything my daughter can do without involving the courts?
A-Having signed the note and mortgage, your daughter is liable for the debt and monthly payments. Furthermore, if mortgage payments are delinquent, her credit record will be damaged.
By the way, don’t be so sure putting your daughter’s name on the title was a “gratuitous act.” In all likelihood, your daughter’s income and credit history were used as a basis for obtaining the mortgage loan. Her ex might not qualify for a mortgage based solely on his income or credit.
With title in your daughter’s name, the house cannot be sold and conveyed without her signature. Absent any written agreement, when the house is sold, she is entitled to one-half of any equity regardless of whether she made any down payment.
One strategy is to offer to give her interest in the home to her ex-boyfriend if he will refinance the home with a mortgage in his name only. If he is unwilling to cooperate, she can refuse to sign a purchase agreement (when the house is sold) or warranty deed unless she is paid her share of the home equity.
Q-I have an owner-financed mortgage with a payment of $400 a month. I am making an additional $50-a-month payment on the principal.
I am trying to find an amortization schedule that shows the regular payment and the additional $50 a month. The mortgage companies and banks I have contacted tell me this kind of amortization schedule cannot be run.
Can you tell me where I can get one?
A-You have been informed correctly. There is no simple amortization schedule that can be easily prepared to show the principal and interest on your mortgage.
Interest expense, each month, for a mortgage, is based on the remaining mortgage balance. Because you are paying an extra $50 each month, the allocation to principal and interest must be recalculated each month.
The calculations can be made but require some extra effort. Ask your tax accountant or CPA to prepare a schedule for you.
Alternatively, if you plan, without fail, to pay an extra $50 each month until the entire mortgage is paid, you could have an amortization schedule prepared based on a payment equal to your monthly payment plus $50.
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Have a question about real estate? You can write to George Karvel in care of the Chicago Tribune’s Your Place section, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611. Answers will be provided only through the column.
