Ok, so my divorce was finalized end of October, I get to keep the house but need to refinance within one year to get her name off of it. I want it done ASAP though.

She has taken on all the credit card debt we had as her responsibility, per the divorce agreement, except my name is on all the cards. She is working on getting my name off, but I hear it is not easy.

So, when I go to refinance will the credit cards still show up as debt against me? If so can I send the court papers showing that legally ( I think) they are now her responsibility?

Is there anything I should be doing to get my name off the credit cards myself, and if so, how do I go about it?

Any other info I need to know that may help me refinance will also be helpful, I plan on calling the company that currently holds our mortgage tonight after work if possible to see what they say, but at this point I really have no clue what will happen, or what actually will matter in the determination of getting refinanced, hopefully while not getting a higher rate.


Update 1, 11-20-12

I called my current mortgage co today and talked to them. Currently I am at a 30yr loan with approx $78,000 remaining at 6.38% and 21 years left on loan.

He said I qualified for a HARP loan at either 30 or 20 yrs.

the 30 yr was 3.83% which would save me about $11,000 in interest over the existing loan, and drop my monthly payments about $187 a month.

the 20 yr was 3.625% and would save me about $33,000 in interest over the existing loan, and drop the monthly payment by about $92/mo. this is the one I'm hoping to get approved for.

He said with his checking on it now, but before the underwriters verify it, it looks like I should be able to get the 20 yr refinance loan approved for me, closing costs (approx $2,100) would be rolled into the loan so nothing would come out of pocket, and no appraisal would be needed.

I did check on adding to the current amount owed to get cash out I think it's called, but he said I can't with a HARP loan. Anyway, it looks like I don't have to worry about the credit card debt she is taking over putting a hamper on the refinance, I'm sure I could do a little bit better if I searched, but I'm pretty content with what this offer is giving me, and think I will just accept it and get on with a little less stress in my life worrying about this.

As far as the CC debt goes I  still have to talk to the ex when I can to see if she can transfer it, or whatever she needs to do, to get them paid off and my name off them. Fingers still crossed on this one.

How much CC dept we talking here?

Approx 20g.

If your current rate is good look at doing an assumption loan.

Great.


ETA- maybe I can convince her to get a loan to pay them off. my fingers are crossed.

Does she have a time limit on getting your name off the cards?

Welcome to the world of divorce.  The decree is just an agreement between you and the ex.  The cc companies, mortgage companies, and the rest don't care.  You're on the hook.  And she's still on the hook for the mortgage.

No. I figured she should be able to pay them off easily in 3-5 years though. But I have to refinance within one year, or else the house automatically goes on the market per court papers.

shit, answered above already. pay it off then move on.

just a thought. would she be able to get another CC in her name only and transfer the balances?
How is her credit?

Not sure, gonna send the idea her way, as well as an idea for maybe a small loan to pay them off. hopefully it will work.

Yep,





As a mortgage loan officer for 10 years, he is 100% correct.
 
 

Guess whos credit gets dinged if she doesnt make a CC payment...



 

Even I wasn't stupid enough to get a joint CC while I have been married.

I have done plenty of other stupid stuff, this wasn't one.

It's a good thing the two of you can still talk.

Refinance as fast as you can.

Don't worry about the CCs. If you already have the house loan, what in the H3LL do you need credit for ?

This happened to me in my divorce.

We had a joint credit card account to be used only in emergency.  She hid the statements from me for over a year, and because we agreed to not use them, and I never did, I assumed she wasn't using her card.  Apparently Starbucks everyday is an emergency!

When I finally got the statement.  She agreed to pay it off.  She missed a payment.  So, I took it over.

This................trust me I know........

Try to convince her to transfer the balance to a new account in her name only and tell her it's to get a low/0% rate.
Tell her to do this once a year to avoid the interest.  Maybe that will help convince her.

Refi the house with cash out, buy her debt from her with the cash. It will probably end up being cheaper in the long run if you can just write it off.

So with out a deadline date to get the cards in her name she has no incentive to get it done anytime soon. If things are amicable you could give her some incentive and wrap a few thousand of it up with your refi if she will transfer the debit to a card in her name only. This would take some burden off her so she would want to get the cards in her name quickly. The portion you are taking on would be a small raise in your principle while still lowering your monthly payments due to the refi.

Just an option to try and get her motivated to get the debit out of your name before it bites you in the butt for 7 years.

She will declare bankruptcy within a year. And you'll be on the hook. Her credit will be crap for a while, but more than likely she didn't have any available to her anyway.

ah come on man, kick a guy in the nuts when he's already down why don't ya.

just worried with the CC debt showing up it will make it hard to refinance, hope not, have never missed/been late on a house payment since we purchased it.

definitely gonna think of this as an option if needed.

if this was the case we would have done it 5 years ago when we were really hurting. but she could, but probably won't.

Except don't just hand her $20K. YOU pay off the debt if that is how you go.  Don't trust her to take the cash and actually pay for the debt.

+1

update in OP.