Q: My boyfriend and I bought a house together, he put up the finances. Can he force me out? He left the state - ref to pay.
He is bullying me into selling the home. But I never agreed that I wanted to leave. He refuses to pay his share of the mortgage. And has threatened to destroy the house if I get rid if his things. I feel he has abandoned the home, me, and dog. He has no intention of returning. He is threatening to humiliate me in front of my kids, Threatening to laugh in my face when I end up with "nothing". I am part owner and on the deed.. what are my rights?? What are my options??
A:
You are in a very difficult place. You do own your part of the house. However, you apparently signed a mortgage which means that a bank has a lien against the home which is superior to your ownership if you do not pay the mortgage.
You do have the right to partition the property to have a court divide the property or sell the property so that you can get your share of the value. However, if the mortgage is not paid, the bank can sue both of you for the unpaid mortgage and can take the house via foreclosure.
The big question is what amount of equity is there in the property. If the fair market value is equal to what is owed on the mortgage the pursuit of a partition suit will likely not be financially worth doing. I suggest that you speak with a real estate attorney in your area to get some specific advise related to this situation.
Richard Paul Zaretsky agrees with this answer
A:
Like Mr. Williamson says, your remedy is a partition action which is a creature of statute in Florida - meaning this is a relatively black and white matter at its core. The gray in your story is all the "bad things" he has done to you - almost none of which is relevant to the core solution of partition.
Partition includes an accounting of what each party paid into the property and any expenses paid by one party but not the other. This would result in the out of pocket party getting reimbursed from the equity realized (if there is equity - meaning money left over after the sale).
Partition also usually includes the payment of each party's attorney fees.
You need to find a local attorney to look into partition as the proper solution for you - or perhaps based on your full set of facts, there may be some other relief available to you.
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