My ex boyfriend and I bought a home 12 years ago. We split up after 2 years and I have made all of the mortgage payments, repairs, and upgrades myself for the last 10 years. I lost my job a year ago and got behind on the mortgage. My ex came back last month and caught the mortgage payments up, and we agreed to sell the house. My ex had to make some repairs to the house to get it "sale-ready", and is paying the closing / selling costs. His realtor is trying to have me sign over the deed so he can proceed with the sale without my input. He told me that my ex is out the money to sell the house and therefore any profit will be his. We are in Texas. Is that correct? I would have thought my equity in the house is far greater than his at this point.

Not if both of your names are on it... lacking any other written agreements... you are equal co-owners.


The housing market is still depressed many areas...

Particularly compared to its peak 12 years ago. I'm in a very hot housing market that never had the significant drops many had, and mine still hasn't recovred to what it was 12 years ago.

There should be equity in it, however the question is how much... what is it priced at? How much do you still owe? How much of a cut is the realtors taking? Typically it was 6% but might be different? That comes off the sale price.

Don't sign anything that the real estate agent gives you. Find a lawyer, fast.

Laws vary by jurisdiction. This is likely going to turn out to be one big mess for both of you.

Good luck.

Don't even think of signing anything until you get a lawyer who represents only you. Then you sign only what your lawyer tells you to sign. It sounds like your ex and "his" realtor are trying to rip you off. Get a lawyer immediately.

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... He told me that my ex is out the money to sell the house and therefore any profit will be his. We are in Texas. Is that correct?.

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No, not unless you sign as he has requested. Do what the others have said and get a lawyer.

Before you start paying a lawyer by the hour (minute), write a clear accounting of what each of you has paid into this. I take it you can't really afford a lawyer, but you MUST.
Keep in mind that living there should subtract a bit from the weight of what you contributed, but not technically - if you wanted to, you could say tough, this is my amount,my %. It's just that arguing is going to cost you by the minute.

We don't know who paid the down payment, how much it was, and closing costs, nor how much your ex just covered now, and is about to pay, including a huge amount for the commission... so do 10 years of payments really add up to more? Have you done the math? You may be in for a surprise.

The realtor knows that your ex can't do anything without your signature, so has a vested interest in less hassle, and also represents your ex, not you!

I bought a house in April of 2001 that went up in value, I sold it 5 years later at 50% more than I paid for it, and it went down after that, but I am pretty sure it's back to the value it was in 2006. A lot depends on where the house is, but many parts of the country are like this. Hopefully you can get 50% more. Sales have had a good spurt but are now going back down as interest rates go up.

As co - owners you share equally in any proceeds of a sale. If you want to get an unequal split, you are going to need to provide a full accounting of what you have put into the property and he will need to do the same. But if you sign the deed over to him, you get nothing. So the fact that the realtor is asking this is an indication that they are trying to cheat you. So I wouldn't trust them at all.

You both put money into the house, how much was all the payments you made, How much was all paments he made.

What was the written agreement on house when he moved away ?

Is both names on the deed ?

Unless other wise agreed, the proceeds of the sale are to both of you. How they are split is to be agreed by the two of you. This needs to be in the sales contact for a house to be clear at closing