Am I responsible for a mortgage taken on my property if someone obtained morgage thru forged quit claim deed?
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Am I responsible for a mortgage taken on my property if someone obtained morgage thru forged quit claim deed?
I found out house was going into
foreclosure, when spouse passed,
later found out a quit claim deed
had been signed prior to our
marriage. I did not sign over deed
to my house am I responsible for the
mortgage?
Asked on April 2, 2019 under Real Estate Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
If you are not on the mortgage--you did not sign it or agree to pay it--you are not personally liable for it: even if the mortgage is valid, you do not not have to spend any personal money on it and cannot be forced to (or sued to) repay it.
If the mortgage is valid, even if you are not on it, the home could be foreclosed on if it is not paid.
If you can prove that the signature on the quitclaim deed was forged (and the deed was necessary to take out the mortgage), you may be able to void the mortgage or show that it is not valid...but doing so may not help you unless you can repay the remaining principal on it. When an agreement or loan is voided, it is as if it never happened; the parties to it (e.g. the homeowner and the lender) are put back into the situations they occupied prior to the voided agreement or loan. That means that the security interest (mortgage) on your home is eliminated, BUT it also means the bank/lender gets it money back. You cannot keep the loan's proceeds while keeping the house, since that would not be the pre-mortgage situation and would result in you being "unjustly enriched" by getting house and money both.
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