Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Washington

Re: co-owner refuses to pay mortgage

I am not sure why the attorney you hired has been less than helpful, except perhaps that their advice is the same as mine and not what you were hoping to read. That said, assuming you are the other co-owner on the mortgage, I think your only option is to pay the entire mortgage yourself and then try to work something out with your sister.

If your sister still refuses to pay for her share of things, then I'd try to get her to assign a percentage of her ownership in the property to you on the basis that you are paying more than she is. If that does not work for either of you, then you can bring an action to order her to sign a listing agreement to sell the property or to ask the Court to sign in her place if she refuses. The only problem with this course of action is that you will still need to pay the mortgage while the court case is pending, but ask for reimbursement for her share that you paid from the net proceeds.

There are some other options available, but they basically are variations of what I have suggested above as options.

Overall, if you have decent to good credit, and you can afford to cover the mortgage, then do it, if for no other reason than to maintain your credit, which is a hugely important asset at this time. I cannot emphasize this last point enough.

If you need more detailed help, feel free to call or e-mail me anytime.