Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in North Carolina

This is a complex question. Much will depend on who inherited the property. For the purposes of this limited inquiry, I will assume your mother in law inherited the home and land alone. If this happened, then taking your statement that the loan is only on the home and not the land at face value, she can stop paying the loan and surrender the home. The problem is there is no timeframe in which the bank can take the home. Under the law, if they don't do it in 10 years, they lose the right to do so...but until that time, they can delay and only take it when they want to. You should have her speak to an attorney to see if there are any options to "encourage" the bank to take the home quicker.

I agree with Attorney Love but add that your mother-in-law really needs to sit down with a probate attorney.

You do not indicate how the home was titled, when the father-in-law died, whether he had a will or or not and what other assets/debts are in the estate. Also, what is the home worth? Was the certificate of title cancelled for it and a deed issued? It makes a difference to know if the home is treated like a car or like a stick-built home. Also, the mother-in-law may have certain inchoate marital rights in the home which will allow her to live there and not pay.

That is why this is not a debt question but a probate question.

However, sure, your mother-in-law can tell the lienholder to come and get it. However, mobile homes are not like cars and not as easily moved. The lender may not even want the home if it is not in good condition. Depending on the value of the home, the lender may refuse to foreclose and simply sue on the note which is a separate contract.

So your mother-in-law needs to sit down with a probate attorney to learn her marital rights and see if she needs to probate an estate for her husband. As part of that, she can see how the mobile home was titled, what its worth and decide what the best course of action would be to get the home removed from the land. The answer may be to do a short sale - assuming the lender will release any liens on the title. That may be the best bet for getting the home off the land.