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Kesodo · Jul 7, 2010, 07:09 AM

Last August my wife emailed me to ask my permission to rent out our house (she is in Ca and I am in the UK due to a close family memebers illness). I agreed and when she had found a renter, she closed the bank accs, cancelled the credit cards, moved to an unknown location and filed for divorce.

It took me 5 months to find out the details of the renter and I served him notice. Which he agreed to.. but I doubt that he moved out.

My wife is apparently renting the house out at a loss - i.e. it covers the mortgage but not the HOA, utilities, etc. In my eyes she is saving about 1600 per month from renting out our Jointly Owned property and I have not received a penny.

Can you legally do this? Do I have any rights? Anything I can pursue?

Thanks.

Kesodo · Jul 7, 2010, 07:18 AM

I am in the UK and my wife is in CA. Last September I received via EMAIL, divorce documentation. Emails were exchanged between her attorney and me and further updated documentation was sent in December.

My argument was that I wanted to be served actual Paperwork from the attorney and I would respond. I countered that serving via email was not a legal way to serve.

Finally in May I was served by a process server in the UK. However it was a printout from an email and once again physical documentation sent from her attorney to me. I was not happy with this but agreed to file the paperwork, which I did. My Preliminary Disclosure has been filed with the court in CA. However it appears that her attorney also filed documentation to say that I was in default, i.e. I had dodged service.

Today I received a letter from her attorney stating her final offer and also that if I did not agree he would go for a default judgement with the court.

Can anyone tell me where I stand with this and what I should do. Its hard enough to deal with when I have NO money and am 5500 miles away. Do I have any rights?

Thanks.

JudyKayTee · Jul 7, 2010, 07:55 AM

I have asked that this thread be combined with your other thread as the basis for the problem is the same.

Yes, she can do this until/unless you can get a Court Order stopping her.

You say you served the tenant notice. Did you follow through with the eviction? A notice has no meaning unless it is followed by further action.

If it's jointly owned property she really didn't need your permission to rent it to someone. It's as much hers as it is yours... and that's the problem here. You need to get your matrimonial situation clarified by the Court.

(You say she got your permission; you then say she is renting it without your permission. I'm confused.)

Kesodo · Jul 7, 2010, 08:15 AM

I gave my permission before in August of last year via email based on her suggestion to save money whilst I was in the UK. After that she rented the house out, closed all the accs and credit cards and moved to an undisclosed location. I retracted my

JudyKayTee · Jul 7, 2010, 09:25 AM

You posted that as an "agree" or a "disagree" with what I said. I can't tell which it is.

Would you post by using the "reply" section (which posts in a box like this one) so I can see what info followed what you posted?

AK lawyer · Jul 7, 2010, 09:43 AM

It doesn't matter whether you retracted your consent for her to lease the premises. As your wife and a co-owner of the premises she has every right to rent it out without your permission.

The bigger problem I see here is the threatened default. You need to file with the court (by "snail mail", certified would be best) an answer to the divorce complaint.