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cspeeks · Oct 16, 2006, 10:29 AM

Hi,
My boyfriends best friend is going through a divorce and moved in with us a few months ago so he could sell his home. He is letting his soon to be ex-wife stay in his home until the sale date. He put a contract on his home last month with the closing date for next week. Today Tommy (roomate) got a letter from his soon to be ex-wife's lawyer stating that his ex will not be moving out of the home before or after the sale of the home. She is not and never has been on the mortgage or title to the home. She is claiming she can't and won't move out because she can not afford anywhere else to live. Tommy is giving her $25,000 from the sale of the home however, even though he under no cercumstances HAS to, he is only doing so that his daughter has somewhere to live when she is not with him. It is obvious to me that she will need to be evicted. Should he just go to the closing then have the new owner have her evicted or will he need to do it? The buyer is aware of the situation but Tommy wants this to go as smoothly as possible. Is there anyway she can mess up the sale of him home even though she has no interest (monetarly) in the home? Please advise
Thank you,
Crystal

ScottGem · Oct 16, 2006, 10:35 AM

What he needs is his divorce attorney to step in here. The home is part of the couple's assets. Whether community property applies here or not I can't tell. But the divorce agreement should specify how the property should be divided.

So if the divorce agreement states that they sell the property and she gets $25K then that's it. But if he trying to sell it outside the divorce, that may be trouble.

I doubt if the buyer would agree to take on the eviction headache. But

cspeeks · Oct 16, 2006, 11:17 AM

Well here's the tricky part, or maybe I just don't have a clear understanding. The divorce is not final. In virginia you must be legaly separated for 2 years before they will begin divorce proceedings. So I guess that means he is selling outside of the divorce? All together he is netting $40,000 from the sale of the home. He is giving her $25,000 cashiers check and paying her car off out of the proceeds ($6,500). So either way even though she is not on title or the mortgage she is getting more then 50% of the asset. The buyer is a friend of ours (my boyfriends boss actually), this is going to sound horrable but he doesn't mind having Jen evicted because he never liked her in the first place and has told her he expects her out on the closing date or to rent the house from him as he is buying it as an investment home. I guess the biggest concern of mine (I get no rent money from tommy till the sale of his home from the last 3 months) and Tommy's is if she can stop or cause issues with the sale or closing being she isn't on title. Hopefully I didn't make the whole thing sound more complicated then it is. The secondary issue is the eviction obviously but with out the sale there is no need for the eviction if you follow me. And thank you for the previous feedback.

ScottGem · Oct 16, 2006, 11:40 AM

Sounds like its getting complex. Boss is buying house as investment. Boss is willing to let ex-wife stay in house providing she pay him rent. Otherwise, he wants her out by closing and is willing to close and pursue an eviction.

Tommy is selling house for $40K (that's all? ) but plans on giving ex more that $30K out of it.

Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. But the thing that concerns me is disposing of assets outside the divorce.

cspeeks · Oct 16, 2006, 02:38 PM

No he is selling for $175,000 but after closing he will have 40k left over because he still owes 130k to pay off his mortgage.

Maybe I'm having a blond moment but as far as disposing of assets outside of the divorce you mean that he should be waiting until the divorce is final to sell? Here in virginia that noramally takes 3 years (2 yr separation plus about 6 months - 1 yr to get through the court system). Am I not understanding or just missing something that is vital... I've never been through a divorce and when I sold my other 2 houses it was just a matter of signing the contract and the closing papers and doing the same on the house I was buying, I know that this is obviously a bit more involved though. Maybe if I understood what you mean by disposing on assets outside of the divorce and what consequences that has or can have I would get it. So sorry I really am just not familiar with this type of thing. Again thank you for all your feedback though and your patience with me

Fr_Chuck · Oct 16, 2006, 03:30 PM

I would say he could try to evict her ( worth 100 dollars to see if it works)
Go to the court house, file an eviction notice with the court and have a hearning, the worst thing that could happen is he would lose, and she is already there anyway, best thing, the sheriff department goes over why he physcially moves her belongings to the curb of the road.

ScottGem · Oct 16, 2006, 03:51 PM

I'm not a divorce attorney (not any type of attorney), so I don't know what the laws are concerning VA divorces. But what I do know makes me concerned about disposing of assets when a divorce is involved. I might be wrong and it might not be a problem, especially in this case where the proceeds are going mostly to the other party in the divorce.

But Tommy's divorce atty should be advising him of the legality of this transaction.