Ex-wife's credit jeopardized by divorce

DEAR BOB: My wife and I divorced last year. Her name is still on the mortgage. She wants her name taken off. She signed a quitclaim deed. I sent this to the mortgage company asking them to take her name off. I do not want to refinance because the mortgage has a good interest rate. The mortgage company refused to remove my ex-wife from the mortgage obligation. Is there any way to do this without refinancing or selling? --Michael T.

DEAR MICHAEL: No. There is nothing your ex-wife can do to get her name off the mortgage obligation. If she had a good divorce attorney, he or she would have insisted you refinance in your name alone so she could be free of that mortgage obligation on her credit reports.

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Since that wasn't done as part of the divorce agreement, although your ex-wife's name is off the title after you recorded that quitclaim deed, her name remains on the mortgage until you refinance or sell. If you make the monthly payments on time, that will reflect well on her credit reports and FICO (Fair Isaac Corp.) credit score.

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Copyright 2006 Inman News