Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: New mortgage without first mortage hurting

If you are on the mortgage, you are legally responsible, even if you quit claimed your interest in the property. So, the mortgage will likely be on your credit. You should speak to a couple of lenders/loan brokers who can tell you about the criteria for a new loan and whether you can "explain" the situation and obtain the new loan even with the other mortgage.

Another alternative would have been to require your ex to refinance the property as part of the dissolution. Check your divorce documents for how this issue was handled. If a final judgment has not been entered, you may be able to still resolve this issue.

Unfortunately, if the Judgment has already been entered, I don't think there is much you can do to force your ex to refinance at this time.

I hope this helps.

Re: New mortgage without first mortage hurting

I can't add much to the foregoing answer. A properly-handled divorce should result in an allocation of assets AND liabilities between the former spouses. If the property settlement in your divorce left you liable to a third-party lender, the next question is whether there is personal recourse to you....on most purchase-money loans, the lender must look to the collateral alone, and not to the other assets of the borrower(s). Therefore, the fact that you are nominally still a co-borrower should have little real effect, since you have (in theory) nothing to lose. On the other hand, most refi loans have a right of recourse to the borrower.

Have a good loan broker go over your situation, including the old loan papers and your divorce property settlement, and get an opinion (or two). See a divorce lawyer if there are murky areas or anything unpleasant turns up.