[liveandlearn911]

Hi,
I reside in NYC. I purchased a home in 2007. The plan was, since I had good credit, the mortgage/deed would go in my name and he would pay the monthly mortgage since his credit was bad, but he had the better paying job. After a year, he stopped paying. I told him I can not make the payments on my own and I want to sell. He agreed, but when it was time to have the appraiser look over the property, he would not let them in.

Fast forward to 2012, incredibly, the home has not been foreclosed on as yet. I've since left because I feared for my safety. Out of nowhere he contacted me and says he wanted to do a shortsale; and in order to make everything work smoothly, he needed me to sign over the deed to him. I was so happy to get this home off my name that I agreed and sign the paperwork. Two month after the paperwork was done, I called him for an update on the shortsale... "i'm working on it" he says. December 2012, I decided to contact the bank myself... "no contact regarding a shortsale on record" they said.

This person is holding me hostage and I feel as though I can't do anything. He is in the house, he's rented the property out to his family and is collecting rent from them. He refused to pay the mortgage even though he is collecting rent.

I got a lawyer and he told me I can do the cash for keys. Unfortunately, BOA stated that I need to have paperwork signed by the deed holder in order to have this done. He will not sign the paperwork. He says the property is his and he won't ever be able to get a property like it. He says I should do a loan modification to get the payments low. He said if I did that he can start paying the mortgage. I don't trust or believe anything he says anymore. I just want out of this situation.

Is there anything else that I can do? I was tricked into signing the deed thinking that he would do the right thing, but he didn't. Is my only option to wait 9 months until the foreclosure process? I understand that he will have another 9 months to live rent free and collect rent for himself, but he will still loose the house. I just don't understand...

Thanks in advance for any help/advice.

[LisaB4657]

Get yourself a free consultation with two or three attorneys about suing this person for fraud and having the deed rescinded. It sounds like you have an excellent case.

[ScottGem]

Agreed you have to sue him. Since you originally purchased the property, you will need to show that there was an agreement that he would pay the expenses. You then sue him for those expenses (I'm not as sure as Lisa that you have a fraud case). But if you can show that you moved into the house with him and that he paid the mortgage for the first year, then you have a good case against him to make him pay the mortgage or buy the house from you.