Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Why are they on the mortgage--divorce [petition court to change divorce settlement]-- will determine in part what might be done. I assume that they are not making any of the monthly payments. Why do you need them removed? We need to know this additional information to give you better advice.

Contact the lender and ask about their policies and practices. Generally, lenders are reluctant to remove borrower names from a loan, partly because they lose the power to bully that person into making payments if the other doesn't, and partly because any modification to a recorded loan might affect its priority. Another way is to pay off the loan (refinance).

There is no benefit to you from removing another person as a co-obligor on your mortgage, so why worry about it? There is no legal way to force a lender to let the other person off the mortgage. They can if they want, but as Mr. Whipple explained, they have no reason to want to do it. The only way to do it is to refinance.