How to get name removed from joint mortgage. Name already removed from deeds

[iamamug]

My friend has discovered she is still a joint name on the former marital home. She was bought out and divorce has been finalised. Her name has been removed from the deeds. ExH has asked her to sign for transfer to new mortgage deal. Her name has been changed on the new agreement.( she's reverted to maiden name) she never signed anything for this to be done.
She has been removed from the deeds already.
He says mortgage co say he can't have enough money in his own name but she doesn't live there, they are divorced and financials are all settled.
WTF is going on???

Aargh! She really should not have had her name removed from the deeds before her name was off the mortgage. That mistake is likely to royally screw her over. Oops.

With her name on the deeds, she'd be able to force a sale. Now she has responsibility for the debt but no ownership of the asset. What a pickle!

She could consult a solicitor but probably the best she can hope for is to get her name back on the deeds and assert her right to stay joint owner of the property if her name is being used in this way for the foreseeable future.

I can't believe her solicitor allowed her name to be removed from the deed without a remortgage... Any recourse there? She has emailed her solicitor and will speak to him next week. exH is an accountant and screwed her over financially but she was so battered by it all she accepted his settlement for a quiet life.

P.s. and no she should not sign anything before consulting a solicitor.
She's locked into the 25year mortgage that she presumably signed up for while still married. that can change only when either her ex gets a mortgage in his sole name or the mortgage gets paid off either in a few decades or sooner if it is sold. Signing a new deal only prolongs this misery.

Thanks Fish, she has no intention of signing anything this time!

That's not entirely correct.

If they were married I presume a financial order was made at the time of the divorce that said she was to transfer to him her interest in the house, subject to mortgage. He would have promised in the order to do his best to get her removed from the mortgage. Sometimes the lender won't agree to release the non-owning spouse from the mortgage account. That would be because the owning spouse doesn't have enough income to justify having the mortgage in their sole name.

I strongly suspect that is what has happened here. It's not that unusual.

If her name has been signed on anything can she point out that she hasn't actually signed anything and as such somebody has forged her signature?
If it was her ex then he could get into lots of trouble you'd have thought for doing this...

Could she also get a charge put on the property while she is still on the mortgage but not the deeds so she doesn't discover that he has sold the house but left her paying the mortgage.

Hope she manages to get her name off the mortgage or failing that her name back on the deeds - guessing this will screw her chances of getting another mortgage if she wanted to buy a home of her own.

Has she checked with the mortgage company to find out what's happening and to ensure that she also gets a regular statement from them - again she doesn't want to discover that her ex has stopped paying and that the mortgage company then come after her!

She had a cash settlement which allowed her to buy a small house outright. Only child,now adult , not living with her. No need for a mortgage. She has contacted the mortgage company. Waiting to hear back from them as to when her name was changed.

She has a very small income and no way of being able to pay any mortgage payments on the marital home if he doesn't.
Would they ever come after her or just force sale???
Mortgage is approx one third of house value.

Before she signed the house over to him he will have applied to the lender for a transfer of equity. Presumably the lender refused to release her. It wall all have been explained to her by her solicitor at the time.

^What Collaborate said. Listen to him, he's a family solicitor and has done tons of these.

If she's still on the mortgage then she is still jointly and severally liable for the debt. If he doesn't pay, she will have to.

HD, not if the consent order contained the usual indemnity clause.

The mortgage company would still go after her. The indemnity clause would mean she could sue her ex for the cost of it afterwords.

Surely the mortgage co would just repossess - OP has said there's approx 65% equity so even selling quickly at an auction it would seem likely the amount owed would be satisfied, leaving any remaining for the ex.

Well yes I suppose they would but I'm not sure it would do her credit rating any good.

You certainly need to do some morte digging with the solicitor and lender as in order to Transfer the equity, namely a transfer by the two of you to just him whilst still subject to the mortgage would have needed the lender's consent.

Clearly if there is sufficient equity in the property then they may be more willing to consent to sole ownership but no release given to you from the mortgage itself.

This is nromally covered as part of the divorce process so checking what you were advised will help understand what happened and where you now stand.

But missed payments, a mortgage default on your credit file...!

So yes they could come after her and yest it is very common the property is transferred by the lender will not release the other person (usually the ex husband actually) from the loan as the one remaining does not earn another to taken on all the risk.