How to I get my name off the title?
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How to I get my name off the title?
My boyfriend and I owner financed a home last June
and started renovating. My grandfather gifted us
30,000 last summer for renovations and I have
about 20,000 worth of credit card debt from
renovations. My boyfriend and I just broke up and I
don’t know what to do. I want to walk away from the
house but can’t afford an apartment with the debt.
Asked on March 18, 2017 under Real Estate Law, Colorado
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
You could get your name off the "house"--that is, off the title--by quitclaiming (executing a quitclaim deed) your interest in it to your boyfriend, if he is willing to accept it (you can't transfer something to someone against their will).
But that will not get you off the mortgage. The mortgage is a contract with the lender; you cannot escape your obligatons under it unless one of the following occurs--
1) the *lender* voluntarily agrees to let you out of it (which they will NOT do, since it is against their interest to let you out of the mortgage--they would be giving up a person who has to pay and whom they could sue for the money, reducing their chance of getting paid, without getting anything in return)
2) you and/or your boyfriend pay off the loan in full
3) your boyfriend *voluntarily* agrees to refinance in his name only--and it is voluntary for him to do this; you can't require him to refinance.
So you may not be able to get out from under the mortgage.
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