Hey guys I have a quick question and need your opinion.. I have been going through a divorce now for almost a year.. I had to move out of my house and get an apartment.. I have a second job working at night but even with that I'm having a hard time making it with the bills. I'm still paying for half of my house with her living in it, and the house is on the market.. My question is this. Being that I'm going through the divorce would I be able to file for bankruptcy and not have to pay that half anymore.. That is the only thing that is killing me is having to pay for the house.. After all my bills are paid I barley have money for gas for my car.. Let alone buying food for the week.. So what do you guys think.. I will be talking to a lawyer in my company because have a group legal plan at my company, but I was looking for some opinions.


James

 

Lower the price on your house to just what you owe on it and other debts for a quicker sale. Give the ex her share and move on with your life. Bankruptcy sucks and will only make your life harder.

 

Norm,
are saying a house valued at $100k with a $50k mortgage, gives each party $25k equity

and to reduce the sales price to $75k
pay off $50k mortgage, pay ex $25k?

 

Is she paying half your rent?

Have her move out & you move into the house.

Got kids?

 

No nothing that drastic. Just lower it to a sensible amount that allows a quick sale and pays off the debts so that he can move on.

 

How much do you owe on the house? Sounds like you might need to have your realtor do a "short sale" on it ... I work for a real estate company and a lot of houses are going short sale route now. However there are some people who would rather have the house taken from them than do a short sale, it always kills me. A bankruptcy stays on your record for what? 7 years? Do everything you can to not go down that road.

 

What does the divorce decree state about the house? Or is the sale some kind of verbal agreement with your ex-spouse?

Agree with Norm. Don't file banktrupcy. Get out of the mortgage. Either through sale or through your lawyer.

Then, rebuild.

Good luck.

 

Anyway what I owe on the house is 183K. But I also have a 90K home equity loan out. So we need enough to pay both of those off, but she is stingy about selling it for lower because she wants to pay off her credit card debt plus she wants money for her down payment for her new house.. But anyway, I can't keep living this way besides in the agreement she wants me to pay for my half of the house until it is sold.. The sucky thing is I can't buy her out and she can't buy me out.. It's getting harder and harder to afford this. I don't want to burden my parents with having to borrow money to make ends meet. I'm trying every avenue I can think of trying to get out of paying my half of the house.


James

 

Sounds like she needs to compromise. She doesn't want to sell the house cheaper to get rid of it because it won't benefit her. She's living in a house that you're not, while you pay half the rent.

That's some BS right there and my boot would be up her *** in a heart beat. Of course that's not legal....

 

x2

I'd have to stop paying my half of the rent

 

If you can still have a sensible conversation with her, sit down and straight out tell her you can't make any more payments and she'll be on her own to make them. Put the house up for a quick sale via a realtor and call it a day. If she doesn't want to do that, quit making your part of the payment. She'll get the idea and if her bills are an issue, what does she think going back to an attorney is going to cost to handle this issue? If she has any brains at all, she'll listen.

 

First of all, my heart goes out to ya, as I've been in your shoes, and there's no easy way out. The mental and financial devastation that divorce causes is catastrophic, and can haunt you for many years. A BK will make sure of it. It is your right, but should be a last resort. You don't necessarily need to go BK if you can't afford the house payments. Foreclosure is actually a better option. If you tell her that you are considering that, then she will be faced with the reality that she will owe her half of any mortgage still owed after the foreclosure sale is complete. This will pressure her into lowering the price. If she doesn't budge, and you are backed into a corner, then let it go into foreclosure instead of filing for BK. Then start digging out. Good luck. I'm rooting for ya bro.

 

THanks for all of the help guys.. It just sucks because everything I try I can't seem to get away.. I'm working 2 full time jobs so I'm working 16hrs a day and not getting my time to myself and after all my bills are paid I'm lucky if I have $100 to myself after a month of busting my ***. I will ask her if she wants to do a quick sale and see what she says she would like to do.. Once I get the house sold I'm good to go..

James

 

She should pay the the market rent for the house, + 1/2 of the difference between your actual payments and the rent. You should pay 1/2 of the difference between the market rent and the actual payments.

For example, say the total house payment is $1,500/month, and the house would rent for $1,000/month.

She should pay the $1,000/month market rent, + 1/2 of the $500 difference between payment and the rent. So she should pay $1,250 and you would pay $250.

This is a fair way to do it and might help light a fire under her to actually get the house sold. Right now, the longer it drags out the longer you subsidize her and the longer you go in the hole financially.

 

Excellent advice. For what its worth, thats what I would do...