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Pink pearl · May 1, 2013, 07:34 AM

I signed papers at the closing with my husband. For years I contributed now at divorce my lawyer says I was tricked, I'm not on deed and he listed himself single. Is this fraud?

JudyKayTee · May 1, 2013, 07:38 AM

If you believed your husband, no, it's not fraud. If he lied to a mortgage company, yes, it is fraud.

Did you ever sign a Deed, mortgage papers, anything concerning the property?

ebaines · May 1, 2013, 07:43 AM

You didn't notice that the two of you were signing different documents at the closing? Closing works differently in different states, but if you had an attorney at the closing he or she should have made it clear to you just what you were signing. Seems like you signed mortgage papers while he signed the deed. Now that you are getting a divorce your current attorney needs to bargain for the value you put into the house.

AK lawyer · May 1, 2013, 06:39 PM

Originally Posted by ebaines

... Seems like you signed mortgage papers while he signed the deed. ...

Buyers don't sign a deed at a closing. The seller would.

And in many places the seller is not even in the same room. OP might not have even seen a deed at the closing.

ScottGem · May 1, 2013, 06:44 PM

If you were married at the time you purchased the house and you can prove your husband listed himself as single so the deed would only be in his name, then he did commit a fraud. It may not be criminally actionable, but if your attorney can prove this to the divorce judge, I'm pretty sure he will award you compensation for at least half the value of the house.

JudyKayTee · May 2, 2013, 06:08 AM

I know we aren't supposed to read into questions but OP seems unfamiliar with the legal system. I wonder if somehow the Deed was changed from joint to just him along the way, she signed it, didn't realize it.

If she's on the mortgage doesn't she have to be on the deed?

Or wasn't she on the mortgage?

As far as "contributing" to the house payment I don't find the arrangement all that unusual - they are married, they pool their money, who knows who is paying for what.

ebaines · May 2, 2013, 06:42 AM

Originally Posted by JudyKayTee

If she's on the mortgage doesn't she have to be on the deed?.

No. All deed holders must be on the mortgage (this protects the bank in case they need to foreclose), but not all people on the mortgage need be on the deed. In effect she is acting like a cosigner.

There has been lots of speculation in this thread as responders try to ascertain what is really going on here, but the OP hasn't seen fit to respond. We can't help her if she doesn't help us understand the situation.

ScottGem · May 2, 2013, 09:29 AM

As AK pointed out, the seller signs the deed not usually the buyers. It's the seller that is conveying the property. That doesn't mean the OP wasn't there when the seller signed the deed or saw it.

As noted, we don't know at this point. If, in fact the deed was changed after the closing, the county should have a record of that.