Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

I hope in going "off title" you got a fair buy-out. You should have, while you had the leverage of being a co-owner, also obtained an enforceable agreement (with your ex) regarding the loan.

It seems to me your main worry in being a co-borrower without being a co-owner is possible loss of a good credit rating. It is unlikely that any lender will come after you.

If you are a co-borrower and there is a serious refinancing effort under way, it seems likely that at some point you will be hearing from someone about the new loan or the related payoff of the loan on which you are a co-borrower.

As to trusting what your ex is saying, I think there are two problems. He may be lying to you; also, he may be genuinely trying to do a refinancing, but may be running into obstacles in doing so that he doesn't yet fully appreciate or doesn't want to tell you about.