Divorce Settlement Screw-Up’s: Exhibit A Test your knowledge of mortgage finance, and answer the following question (aired at a continuing ed class yesterday): If a deed is given from an ex-husband to an ex-wife,** the ex-wife is automatically the sole owner of the real property and the sole obligor on the mortgage. A. True B....Read More
“The Clean Slate” Scenario Not every home sale is preceded by an estate sale, but . . . every estate sale is followed by a “For Sale” home. Unless the estate sale happens after the home is sold (technically, when the home is what Realtors call “under contract” or “Pending,” but not yet closed). Got all...Read More
Q: Is a quitclaim deed executed by a divorcing spouse in favor of their ex-to-be valid before their divorce is final? A. Yes B. No C. Maybe Answer: No Being a former corporate attorney didn’t give me a clue about answering that question (my first guess was “Yes,” followed by “Maybe”). Which is a good reason...Read More
From Stigma to “the Norm”I was at an industry conference yesterday where the speaker compared “strategic default” — making a business decision to walk away from an “underwater” mortgage — to society’s notion of divorce up until the 1970’s. Back then, relatively few people divorced, so there was a stigma attached to it. Fast forward...Read More
Can We Afford Wall Street?I’ve got a way to make palatable the $3 trillion (or is it $4 trillion? Or $6 trillion?) injected into Wall Street (so far). Don’t think of it as a bailout, think of it as alimony. Yes, alimony. As in, what you pay to divorce someone — or in Wall Street’s...Read More
