You will be responsible for the mortgage and it will effect your credit, but you will need your wife to sign docuements to transfer the property. This will be effected by your divorce . The options as I see it are:

1. Do Nothing- If a homeowner does nothing, they will most likely will loose their home at foreclosure auction. Loan applications generally ask if the applicant has ever been foreclosed. Credit reports also disclose this damaging information. Not the best option.
2. Payoff/Refinance- Completely pay off the entire loan amount plus any default amounts and fees. Typically this is accomplished by refinance of the debt. New debt is at a normally higher interest rate and there may be a prepayment penality because of the recent default. With this option, there should be equity in the home.
3. Reinstatement- Paying the entire default amount plus interest, attorney fees,late fees,taxes, missed payments and fees.
4. Loan Modification- Utilizing the existing mortgage company to capitalize the debt or extend the terms of the lian. This may allow the homeowner to catch up at more affordable level. To qualify, you must prove to the lender you have fixed the problem that caused the late payment.
5. Forebearance- Lender may be able to arrange a repayment plan based on the homewoner’s financial situation. The lender may even be able to provide a tempory payment reduction or suspension of payments. Information will be required from the lender to show that you are able to meet the new payment plan requirements.
6. Parital claim- A loan from the neder for a 2nd loan to include back payments,cost and fees.
7. Deed in Liew of Foreclosure- Give the property back to the bank instead of the bank foreclosing. Banks generally require the home be well maintained, all mortgage payment and taxes must be current. Most loan applications ask if this has ever happened.
8. Bankruptcy- This option can liquidate debt and or allow more time. I can refer you to a qualified bankruptcy attorney.
. Chapter 7 (liquidation) To completely settle personal debt.
. Chapter 13 (Wage earner Plan) Payments are made toward a plan to pay off debt in 3-5 years.
. Chapter 11 (Business Reorganization) A business debt solution
9. Rent the property- when rent will make full payment or you have the ability to make short fall. To do this option, the loan must be brought current.
10 .Sale- If the property has equity (money left over after all loans and monetary encumbrances are paid). The Homeowner may sell home without lender approval through a conventional home sale.
On the other hand a short sale, also known as a pre-foreclosure sale, can be negotiated with your lender by our Real Estate Professional if what is owed is more than the property value


Keith Manson
First Weber Group
Certified Distressed Property Expert
Greenfield,Wisconsin

Jim, sorry to hear that you and your wife may divorce. Seeing as you have not said that you are currently having trouble making payments, you are not saying you are looking at a short sale or foreclosure, I am not going to address those issues at all. I will say however that if you feel that you can no longer afford the house, then for one to look to buying the other out, it does not make sense. There are various reasons why, as a loan officer, I might suggest only having one person on a loan, and having both on title. At the time that you did this, I am sure you did not think divorce was in your future. It often happens when one person has bad credit, or there is too much debt to qualify if you use the second person on the loan, but you end up putting both names on title because you both are living in the home and contributing towards the payments, etc. If neither of you can afford the current payments, your only choice is to sell. If there is profit to be made, then you should consult a divorce attorney to see how the profit should be divided. If you have any documentation showing why your wife's name was not on the original loan, this might be helpful in negotiating. If you owned the house before the marriage, and had a loan on it, then added her name to title, that would be important.

Jim,

Is one of you interested in staying in the home? If so, you and your wife should try to work out some kind of buyout agreement before you get to an attorney (try to work out as many details as you can on your own, its better for all involved). If neither of you are interested or capable of maintaining that home, you'd simply sell the home and split the proceeds in whichever manner is agreed upon. I'd recommend finding a good divorce mediation attorney, as they help you and your wife work out your own settlement agreement in a non adversarial way, and as a result, its quite a bit cheaper than each of you hiring your own attorneys.

If you both occupied the home as a married couple, I believe it would be considered a marital asset (check with an attorney for your particular situation) and you'll need to find an equitable agreement on how to divide any proceeds, or a fair purchase price if one of you will buy out the other.
.
I am not an attorney, and I'm not giving legal advice in any way, but I am speaking as an experienced Realtor and from recent personal experience.

If you have more specific questions you'd like answered outside of this public forum, please feel free to contact me at the number/email listed below.

Best of luck in your new journey,

Barbara Smith ABR, GRI
Weichert Realtors
cell/text 609-980-7593
Email: BarbSmith321@comcast.net

Ask our divorce attorneys handle this for you surprised they did not do during all court actions. What does the decree state about home? She might be able sign release her name from title . You won't be able sale the property till she signs.

National Featured Realtor and Consultant, Texas Mortgage Loan Officer, Credit Repair Lecturer
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Lynn911
Lynn911

work on your marriage first, worry about house later.

Hello Jim~
Researching all of your options at this point in time is extremely important. We have a pre-foreclosure/short sale specialist among the agents in our agency. He works with an experienced attorney who can guide you in matters such as this.
Please fee free to contact us at any time, we are more than happy to help!
Regards,
Ronni Temple
Co-Owner/Manager
ReSales & Invesment Rlty
Haddonfield, NJ 08033
856-795-3111 http://www.resalesrlty.com

Hi Jim:

I am sorry to hear you're having a rough time right now. Please know that you are not alone, and you have options. Millions of Americans are going through similar situations. In fact, according to research by the NAR (National Association of Realtors) 31% (or 3.1 out of every 10 home sales) are categorized as a distressed property sale (better known as a short sale and/or foreclosure).

A loan modification may not be a viable option for you two, because you're divorcing and won't have the benefit of two incomes. Plus 8 out 10 loans modifications never get approved, and distressed home owners find themselves out several hundreds or thousands of dollars in fees to fly-by-night loan modification "saviours" who ulimately provide no acceptable results.

If you can prove a legimate hardship, a Realtor with proven results in successfully closing distressed property sales, combined with a great short sale attorney can help you work through the problem.

Since it sounds like your divorce will render unable to afford your home any longer, this is often grounds for a mortgage lender to seriously consider approving your short sale. This means the lender would potentially allow you to sell the home short of what you owe them, because the FMV (fair market value) of the home in the current market is lower than what is needed to cover the entire note amount.

Having successfully listed and sold multiple short sales,I can help you work through your dilemma, so you can avoid the long-term affects of foreclosure and save your credit from severe damage.

Please contact me directly if I can be of assistance to you.

Best wishes,

AMBER NOBLE, CDPE
Certified Distressed Property Expert and Short Sale Specialist
Weichert Realtors
455 Route 9 South
Manalapan, NJ  07726
917-723-5645-cell
732-831-6176-private fax
http://www.NJShortSaleAgent.com

Hi Jim, Since only you are on the loan papers, any late payments or short sale should not affect your spouse creditwise. Is you home upside down in value, meaning you owe more than it 's worth? If so, a short sale could be the solution. Having said that you need to find out the value of your house and confer with an attorney because you got more going on there than just a possible short sale. If you can't pay for legal advice go see Legal Aid.

It is wise to seek your options but to avoid a foreclosure and you have no or very little equity, seek a short sale. If you have any ability to save the house and one of you wants to keep the house you possibly may be able to seek a modification. For a loan modification who is associated with an attorney call Andrew Meltzer at 609-315-1511 He cares and will provide some options if a all possible. If you need to sell the house with little equity or no equity do a short sale to avoid foreclosure. This way you keep some credit worthiness for the future. Foreclosure will ruin you credit for 7+ years Short sale will only affect you slightly for 1 year and 2 years to buy again.
Use someone experienced in short sales.

Larry Sarlo
Weichert Realtors
609-868-1171
lsarlo@comcast.net

Jim

I think you need to look at two things 1) I would contact a Realtor to have him work with you in determining the value of your house using today's current market conditions. This will give you an idea of how much value you actually have to work with. 2) Then you can check with your attorney and review all options with him/her. You really need to know the true value before you can make a good decision.

Jerry

Hi Jim,

Under your circumstances, your best advice would no doubt come through an attorney. Your best option is to contact a lawyer for their input.

Good luck