My father recently passed away. He is the owner of a house in Pa that my grandmother gave him however, she has tenant in life. When my father passed away, the house still had a home equity loan on it. My father, grandmother (tenant in life) and mother all signed the open end mortgage agreement. The home is most likely going to go into foreclosure. What happens to the tenant in life? Can she somehow sue my mother? What notice (if any) does my mother have to give the tenant in life about the foreclosure?

If your grandmother signed the mortgage then she'll undoubtedly be notified by the mortgage company about the foreclosure. They'll go after every person on the mortgage to try to get their money.

What was the money used for? Why is it not being paid?

Did your father's estate not have any other assets that will be used to satisfy this debt?

Your grandmother could sue your mom, but if she's on the mortgage, too, she's just as responsible for the non-payment of it as your mom is, so I don't know what kind of case she'd have. If they had a written side-deal of some sort she may be able to go after her.?

A tenant-in-life generally occurs when a property is sold to someone but the seller retains the right to live in that property during their lifetime.

However, that doesn't mean the property can't be foreclosed on and if it is foreclosed then the life estate is cancelled.

I would suspect that the holder of the life estate could sue the owner for not paying the mortgage, but if they can't afford to pay the mortgage, what is she going to collect?

As for notification, the bank will send notice of foreclosure to the address.

If your grandmother signed the mortgage then she'll undoubtedly be notified by the mortgage company about the foreclosure. They'll go after every person on the mortgage to try to get their money.

What was the money used for? Why is it not being paid?

Did your father's estate not have any other assets that will be used to satisfy this debt?

Your grandmother could sue your mom, but if she's on the mortgage, too, she's just as responsible for the non-payment of it as your mom is, so I don't know what kind of case she'd have. If they had a written side-deal of some sort she may be able to go after her. ???


My grandmother did sign the mortgage. The majority of the money was used to fix up the house that the lien is on. My father was already in debt to the tune of aobut $40,000 and had no assets other than the house that my mother is currently living (and has up for sale). He had some life insurance but the majority of it went to pay off the $40,000 debt and then toward my mother's living expenses until her house is sold. The debt isn't being paid because basically, my mother can't afford it and before he died my father couldn't afford it so my grandmother offered to begin paying it the week before he died. She never did. That was just an oral agreement though and now that he has passed away they will no doubtly say the agreement never existed. My grandmother has moved my cousin and his child into the house as well... rent free. My mother has been working with the bank to find a way for my grandmother (or person of her choice) to get a loan to in turn pay off the mortgage and we will sign over the deed to that person. However, again, my grandmother is again avoiding contact or trying to work with us and just threatening suit.

As I said, grandma can threaten suit all she wants. If she can prove that there was an agreement for someone else to pay the mortgage, she may even win. But if there is no money to collect...