Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Maryland
I brought a house with another party in Maryland,we both lived in the house,she left.
And decided not to pay her half of the mortgage. There is no written agreement. She
has not made payment for 6 months. I rented out the half of the house to help pay the
mortgage. She now want half of the rent,or she plan to force me to sell the house,or
move back in to the house herself. What can I do?
1 Answer from Attorneys
If you can afford it, make an offer to buy her out. It sounds like there isn't a whole lot of equity in the property at this time unless you made a large down payment. It's obvious from your scenario that her moving back in isn't a good solution. If she wants half the rent, tell her to reimburse you for the mortgage payments she defaulted on. If you can't work something out, either of you could go to court and file a partition action, asking the court to appoint a trustee to sell the property and determine who is entitled to what part of the proceeds, but this is an expensive procedure and you'd both end up much worse off than if you could agree on a buyout or some other resolution.