removing my ex girlfriend from my deed.

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removing my ex girlfriend from my deed.

I bought a house exactly a year ago, my girlfriend at the time wanted to contribute, she provided gift funds towards the down payment. after 5 months we became engaged and she wanted to be on the since she helped with the money down, thinking we were to be married anyway I added her as Joint tenancy and rights to survivorship. She had not been contributing to any of the bills the last few months, then she abruptly moved everything of hers out of the house one day while I was at work. We have resolved the issue of items in the house. However she will not respond to me or the title company when it comes to having sign a new quit claim deed to remove her from the deed. I only added her because I thought we were to be married. She abandoned the property. What can I do the force her to sing as she has no interest or stake in the property. She is unable to get a mortgage of her own and selling the property would only leave me even with the mortgage company. Any adivse?

Asked on August 8, 2018 under Real Estate Law, Missouri

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 5 years ago | Contributor

You can't force her to sign or give up her interest in the property. When you put her on the deed, you made her an owner; her ownership does not depend on her contributing to the bills or living there, and you can't force her to give up her interest in the home. All you can do is--assuming the two of you cannot work matters out voluntarily--is to bring a kind of legal action traditionally called an action "for partition" in which you seek a court order compelling (despite what she might want to do) the sale of the property; when it is sold, the money from the sale will be used to pay the costs of sale and pay off any mortgage, HELOC, liens, etc., then the amount left over (if any) will be split between you and her.
If you want to explore this option, consult with a real estate attorney. If it does not make economic sense for you, you will have to hold the property until its value appreciates or rent it out and turn it into an income property (assuming you can find tenants and get enough rent).


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