Interesting situation - helping a friend

[Zachary Wells]

Hey guys, 

I have a friend who's about to lose her house because A) They are behind on payments and the bank is trying to evict them, and B) The deed is in her late husbands name but the mortgage is in her name so she's having trouble making moves on it. Is there a way I can help her by taking over the mortgage and renting the house back to her? Or is that going to be difficult with the deed being in his name? Or is there some loop hole i can advise her of that will help her maintain a roof over her head?

Thanks in advance

[Joel B.]

Hi @Zachary Wells,

First, I want to applaud you for having a desire to help your friend. Great job there. We need more of that in this world.

Okay, so you HAVE TO get the deed issue resolved. If her husband died, then the deed needs to be transferred to her name via the courts. That's usually handled in the probate process but is much easier if there is a will. If you need to catch up the mortgage to buy time for that to happen, do that for her. That will get the mortgage/bank happy for now, but I'm guessing the situation will simply come up again. They will have a much easier time if that deed is updated to reflect the new owner (her, I'm assuming), just be careful because ownership can be contested.

This is a great time to hire a probate attorney for assistance or to get your questions answered on getting the deed transferred. I would target that as your highest priority and make the bank happy to buy yourself some time.

Hope that helps. Blessings!