“When John and I got divorced, I agreed John could keep our house provided he refinanced our mortgage, paid the property taxes and immediately removed my name from title. In exchange, John agreed that he would not contest our divorce and would allow me to walk away from our marriage (and the equity I had invested in our property) as quickly as possible. At the time, it seemed like a great deal. In a matter of weeks, I would be free of John, our house and the mortgage, all without a hitch. Unfortunately, it didn’t work that way.
Shortly after our divorce was finalized John fell behind on the mortgage payments, stopped paying the property taxes and never refinanced our mortgage or took my name off title. Subsequently, the mortgage went into default, tax liens were filed, our house was auctioned off at a foreclosure sale and my credit was ruined. Yes, it was ruined even though the house had been awarded to my ex-husband in our divorce.
According to our creditors, with whom I argued relentlessly, our divorce settlement, which had been approved and “So Ordered” by the family court, didn’t release me from my contractual obligation to repay the bank the money I had jointly borrowed with my husband to buy our house. Apparently, they were right.
Today, three years after the divorce, I’m still repairing my credit and reeling from the aftermath of my “quick” divorce. Yes, it stings and yes, if I had it to do over again, I would do it very differently. But I can’t so instead, I tell every divorcing woman I meet to make absolutely sure all joint debts she shares with her husband are paid in full and the credit lines closed, before her divorce become final.” Sandy
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