Home Equity Loans and the Legal Rights They Give You

[kthesen]

My question involves real estate located in the State of: Pennsylvania.

My wife was previously living with someone for approx 10 years prior to us meeting. The house they lived in was owned by the other person. At one point in time they were going to do some remodeling and took out a home equity loan with both their names on it. My wife is the main applicant on the loan and he is listed as a secondary applicant. They have not been living together for over three years now but my wife is still making the payments on this loan.

Do we have legal rights to go after this other person for the amount of the loan or for remaining portion?? I am really tired of seeing money go out for this loan which really doesn't even seem like it should be a part of her life anymore.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Mr. Knowitall]

We don't have sufficient facts to know if your wife has recourse for the payments she has made on the loan. She has never discussed this with her ex? If she has, what was the nature and outcome of that discussion? If not, why not?

[kthesen]

She is not really worried about payments already made, but more in the outstanding balance on the loan. When discussing this with her ex, he basically refused to do anything about it. Stating that she lived there for 10 years as well. He was not really reasonable because he was hurt with her leaving him. My wife is worried about her credit score if she doesn't continue to make the payments. I guess our desired outcome would be for her ex to assume the loan and have her removed from it.

[Mr. Knowitall]

Without knowing more facts I'm not sure that she could articulate a cause of action to force her ex- to refinance the loan or to remove her name, and without knowing the amount involved I can't begin to guess as to whether it would justify the investment of legal fees. She may want to discuss the details with a real estate lawyer.

In terms of her ability to recover money, a big part of the question is, "On what did the money get spent"? If they remodeled the kitchen, she can argue that he should reimburse her as he continues to own the house and kitchen; if they paid miscellaneous expenses or financed vacations, that's something else entirely - although even then he should be paying something toward the balance. Without knowing how much money is involved, I don't know if this is a small claims issue or something she would have to litigate in a regular trial court.