How does one person get from under a mortgage with some one whom is not their spouse, but is on the mortgage with them?

Mortgage Question of the Day?

How does one person get from under a mortgage with some one whom is not their spouse, but is on the mortgage with them.

• I think you are asking how to "get out from under" a mortgage. (There appear to be words missing in your question.) Once you have signed the mortgage, it does not matter whether the co-mortgagor is your spouse, a friend or a stranger. Both people who sign the mortgage are fully responsible for repayment of the debt.

If one mortgagor does not pay, the other one is fully liable for the entire amount of the mortgage. Even though co-borrowers may have personally agreed that each one owes 50% of the payments, that agreement is immaterial to the mortgage lender. If, for example, the two of you have a mortgage for $400,000 and one of you loses his job or moves away, the OTHER one is responsible for the full $400,000. Simply put - every person who signs a mortgage is responsible for 100% of the mortgage amount. The bank is not required to divide up the loan and decide "who pays what."

The only way to "get out" from a mortgage is to pay it off, or to have the lender release you from the mortgage. The lender is unlikely to release you from a mortgage, because that means there is one less person responsible for the repayment of the loan. You could sell your interest in the house to your co-borrower, but even then, the mortgage company would continue to hold you (as original signer of the mortgage) responsible for repayment of the loan.

-written by: Tim Rood