Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Maryland

Home ownership

I bought a townhouse with a mortgage. Years later I took out a large home equity loan. Then I met a woman . And ,intending to marry her, I put her on the deed, saying she was my wife. I never asked the lenders if that was ok . Shortly after that , Lulu left me and now wants tens of thousands to sign a quit claim. She feels that she has me by the XXXX's. Yes I know i was STUPID, but I was in love. Can you think of any way out ? Also with the housing downturn, what I owe on the house is probably about 20k more than the present value of the house.Thanks Jim


Asked on 3/25/08, 10:55 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Sher Wagshal and Sher

Re: Home ownership

You made a gift to Lulu in the eyes of the law. Unfortunately, neither stupidity nor "love blindness" entitles you to revoke the gift now. About the only thing you can do is file a court action for partition, in which you would be asking the court to determine what the respective interests of the parties are in the property. You would argue that you didn't intend her to become an equal owner of the property, it was only a token of your affection, and she contributed nothing to the curtailment of the loans (assuming that's true). Since at this juncture there is no equity in the property, the court should strike her name from the deed, with at most a token payment from you. She might not even pay to fight you on this given the lack of equity in the property.

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Answered on 3/26/08, 10:03 am


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