Q: Can my house be taken away if i am not on the mortgage but on the deed if the mortgage holder dies

A: The note holder can probably foreclose on the debtor or his estate and then petition the court for sale in lieu of partition. If the note holder is not appointed administrator, it will be more complicated and expensive, but they probably have an attorney’s fees provision in the note. The most they can get usually is the debtor’s share of the property.

It will be more efficient if you sell the property voluntarily and pay them off, but, with counsel, you might negotiate something more favorable.

A: This question was asked in Maryland, so presumably this involves Maryland property. Legally, this really involves two questions:

1) Can the lender call the entire note due on the house if the borrower dies?

(answer: usually not if a relative inherits)

and/or

2) Can the lender foreclose if no one is paying the mortgage?

(answer: yes, regardless of who inherits the house)

A federal law called the Garn St. Germain Act specifies that a close relative (spouse, child, etc.) inheriting a house has rights to assume the mortgage and just pay it off in the ordinary course. So long as the surviving relative keeps paying the mortgage, the lender cannot call the note due under this scenario. However, no matter who inherits the house, if no one pays the mortgage, a lender generally has priority rights in the house and can foreclose or "take back" the house.

The above general information shouldn't substitute for talking with a lawyer about your particular situation. However, I hope it helps!

A: No, so long as you keep the mortgage payments current, it is irrelevant that the person on the mortgage dies. Also, you do NOT need to become personally obligated on the mortgage loan, so don't fall for that if the loan company asks you to do that. The sole remedy for nonpayment in your situation is by the mortgage company filing foreclosure, but that only affects the property, not your personal liability. By law, heirs of real property, and successors to interest in real property, may continue to make the payments due on the mortgage and the mortgage company may not "call the loan" or accelerate the balance due. if you owned the home jointly with your husband, you are now the sole owner of the property now. The property remains subject to the mortgage lien, however, so nonpayment would be a default and allow foreclosure. Make the payments, and you can keep the house.