Husband wants house ... says there is no buy out ...

fbchick is correct - if you are upside down, chances are there is also zero/negative equity - so in that case there is nothing to buy out...an "appraised value" doesn't take into consideration the loans/liens on the home. It's just what you could put it on the market for it you chose to.

Here is what happened, he made the initial offer to you out of guilt or what have you and THEN he consulted an attorney and found out what, legally, he really had to offer that a court would approve.

At this point your stance needs to be that the house gets sold, and the marital debt (all of it) gets split down the
|middle and the two of you walk away as equals.

If he wants to keep the house, than he needs to shoulder 3/4's of the cc debt in order to make up what you lose out on in future equity of the home when it goes "upright" again - however, him doing that, will mean he can't refinance...

so...

sell the house - don't let him keep it.

 

 

I would think that if there is an appraised value, he needs to buy you out. I kept the house in my divorce. The value of hte equity in the house equaled the value of our family business that my ex ran, but I contributed to that business to. The values were within about $2k of each other, so we decided it was a wash. So I kept the house and had to refinance what we owed (which thankfully was very low or else I couldn't have kept it). I did have to split my retirement with him, which bites, but IL is a 50/50 state. But as far as the house goes, he should have to buy you out for sure. Who cares if it is underwater? If there is an appraised value, it is worth something and get your share.

I don't think she means litterally underwater.  I think she actually means upside down on the mortgage.  If this is the case, then no.. he doesn't owe you 1/2 of the appraised value.  What would be owed is 1/2 of the equity that may be contained in the house.  If you are upside down on the loan.. this usually means there is a negitive equity balance, which yes.. would mean money would need to be payed by the owners in order to sell the house.  If that is the case.. then yes, walking away would be in your favor

BUT... and that's a BIG but.  If this is the case, he is going to have a seriously difficult time getting the house refinanced into his own name.  If your name is on the mortgage and he can not refinance, you will still be held liable for the loan regardless of whether or not you live there.  Ensure that there are clauses in the divorce deg=cree that he gets it refinanced in x amount of time or the house gets put on the market.

My guess would be no, you don't owe him money if he still wants you to walk away and wants to keep the house. Now, if he wants to try and turn around and sell it, it will be difficult if it's underwater...probably will cost some big bucks to clean that up if you don't have flood insurance. T

he problem is, if you don't agree to his terms about the house and walk away, and he doesn't agree to your terms about it, you are both stuck paying bills on it as long as it's in both your names until a judge decides who gets it and who pays what. The judge could order the sale of the house, and if the house is still underwater (or suffered huge damages from being underwater), it may sell for less than what you two owe on the mortgage...in which case, you may be liable for half of the loss...in which case, you would owe money...to the bank, not HIM. The question is, does he want to keep the house to live there or will he flip it to keep all the profits to himself?

Regardless, it may be in your interests to consider the offer...might want to research how much the house would potentially sell for in its current condition...see how much the loss (or profit) would be, and see if half the cc debt on top of that would put you in a better or worse situation than the offer he's making. He may be able to hang onto that house and turn a profit later, but in the meantime, he would be responsible for the bills, upkeep, and taxes...you would be away from the money pit free and clear and only stuck w/ 16 k plus in credit card debt rather than potentially the debt AND any ongoing maintainance fees until the house sells, which may or may not go for a profit, depending on its condition at the time of sale.

I would consult an attorney about this...I'm not an expert, but that's my two pennies worth.  I wish you luck with all this.  Keep us posted!