Can I sue a co-signer on a mortgage if they allow the house to be foreclosed on without my permission?

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Can I sue a co-signer on a mortgage if they allow the house to be foreclosed on without my permission?

I signed over my rights on a house that my ex-husband and I own from our previous marriage. He was to sell the house or refinance and after 6 years he hadn’t done either. I threatened legal action if he didn’t put the house on the market. He finally found a realtor and placed the house on the market but now has stopped paying the mortgage entirely. If the house goes into foreclosure can I sue him for allowing this without my permission? I haven’t paid the mortgage since I left 5 years ago.

Asked on July 11, 2011 under Real Estate Law, Georgia

Answers:

FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 12 years ago | Contributor

To establish your legal rights against your former husband regarding the house that he stopped paying the mortgage on, you need to refer to all writtten agreements, marital settlment agreements or marital dissoution judgments concerning the agreement as a start.

If there is no written agreement signed by your ex-husband on the subject, then you possibly could sue your ex-husband, but from a practical point, what would your damages be in terms of specific dollars and cents? How much equity was in the home when you and your former husband separated?

A lawsuit is essentially a business decision taking into account expenditures anticipated in the litigation and net return. From your question, it does not make sense to sue your former hsband on the above subject. You might end up with a worse credit report due to late payments or a foreclosure, but you have not made payments on the house for years.


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