Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Iowa
My husband and I own two houses.
The mortgage on the first house is in my name only, but both of our names are on the deed. We also have a second mortgage on that house (a home equity debt consolidation loan) that is in both of our names.
The mortgage on the second house is in my husband's name only, but both of our names are on the deed.
We live in the second house and are trying to sell the first, but it has not sold, and we can no longer make two mortgage payments. It makes sense to default on the payments to the house that we do not live in.
We have no option of refinance and have already tried to find a renter. We will have to stop paying the first and second mortgage on the first house next month.
My question is, what will the legal and credit ramifications be for me and for my husband? Is bankruptcy a better option than forecolsure? Will they take the home we live in, even if we stay current on that mortgage payment?
We live in Iowa.
Thanks, and have a great day.
1 Answer from Attorneys
I would suggest having an attorney review these documents. Depending on when you took title, and when you got the mortgages, one or more of these mortgages may unenforceable. To answer your question though, the legal ramification is that you may lose title to one or both of the properties, and the credit ramification is that your credit will be damaged, making it difficult to obtain credit in the future.
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