Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

You are in a very bad place. First off you generally don't add a person to title by a quit claim deed. That coupled with the fact that he was able to take out a HELOC in his name only suggests that you might have inadvertently deeded him the entire property. Regardless of whether he is on title for 100% or 50%, however, only HE can quitclaim himself off title. As for what happens if he doesn't pay the HELOC, if he is on title as 100% owner, they can take the house. If he only owns half, they can take his interest and you would own jointly with the bank. You need to pay a lawyer to dig into the details of this situation and take legal action on your behalf immediately, and if you read my past answers you will see I almost never say that. So when I say it I mean it.

To answer your questions, I will number them, since they are several.

1. You cannot quitclaim your husband off title. Only a person with title can quitclaim title to someone else. Would it be fair if I were able to quitclaim you off of title of your own home? This is a rhetorical question. The answer is no. I already know that the answer is no. Only you can enfeoff yourself. That is the legal term. If you gave a wristwatch to someone, you can't give it to yourself, he has to give it back.

2. A HELOC, for other people who potentially read this, is a Home Equity Line Of Credit (HELOC). This means that your husband took out a loan, most likely secured by a deed of trust, without your consent or you signing for it. The HELOC is an encumbrance against your property, but only against his interest in the property, which is most likely half. If your husband executed a trust deed to secure this HELOC, you can void it. A nonconsenting spouse can void a trust excuted by only one spouse during the marriage. (Droeger v. Friedman Sloan & Ross (1991) 54 Cal.3d 26, 36-39.) [Don't you love a guy who can argue with a reference?]

3. They can foreclose on the deed of trust, up to the amount of the encumbrance, which in this case is half the property. So you may end up being a tenant in common with a bank, if you play your cards right.

I'll let you make the decision of what you want to do.