Assumption of a mortgage after a death?

[moriah]

My mother passed away in June of 2020. She hadn't expected to die so soon, so took out a 15 year mortgage to remodel the house, do some necessary repairs (and her STBX husband convinced her to pay off revolving debt with the refi). There were 11 years left, and they said as long as the payments are made they're fine.

I'm on SSDI, so in order to keep the lights on and everything paid I have a renter.

The probate attorney said that the only way to get anything out of the estate is for either my sister or I to refinance the house. But I was almost certain there had been laws passed to address this kind of situation. I've proved we've kept the payments and stuff going for nearly two years -- we shouldn't have to refinance and lose money in the process.

This is all driving me a little bonkers, because my sister is the administratrix so has to do all the talking. I have no control over the situation and it is very hard to accept that what will be will be when it's where I'm living that we're talking about.

Plus my expenses have gone up with my cat's problems. I did set up a GFM for my cat's vet bills from a UTI that progressed into pancreatitis -- but my friends are just as broke as I am. One friend did send enough to cover his cat food for one month ($55 through Chewy for c/d chicken flavor dry? Anyone seen cheaper?) and I'm very grateful, but yeah. Everyone right now is struggling.

But am I right that if a person dies with a mortgage, the lender must allow an heir to assume the mortgage, even if they're broke so they're barely gonna make it? (I would rather, should I not be able to keep up with this another 9 years, for any bad credit ratings to be on my report, not my sister's -- even though we wnat the title to show joint interest in the property.

[elleng]

1. Post in Personal finance and investing, good luck,

and retain counsel you can rely on.

[moriah]

4. Thanks. Sorry I hit the wrong forum.

And egads, lawyers.... I just don't know. My sister already hired this guy and his fee was insane.

[elleng]

5. Find ANOTHER lawyer, if you think/feel his advice is not good.

Fees should not be 'insane.'

POST ELSEWHERE in DU.

[moriah]

7. I shall. If you wish, you can hide this thread or block me.

There's no need to yell.

Take care.

[elleng]

8. I'm not yelling, just emphasizing you should be sure you're getting good advice.

Not interested in hiding or blocking.

[brush]

2. The way real estate values have gone up and interest...

rates down, refi-ing could save you a significant amount in your mortgage payment. I refi-ed last year and my payment now is almost six hundred dollars lest a month. And it includes insurance and taxes.

Decide quickly though before rates start rising.

[padfun]

3. Why would you lose money on a refi?

It will have it's value appraised, and you can then use the conventenal 20 down. You will have fees of about 3500 but you will get a lot more cash back to cover that.
and since it is a 15 year loan, you can make it a 30 if you wish and take out more cash with much less lower payment.

I've refi'd so many times in my life and all have been good if you do it right. You still have time for a fairly low rate but that will be changing soon.

[moriah]

6. The problem is Mom took out a loan that way so recently...

.... and she had EXCELLENT credit. Her rate is probably better than I could get, and again, I really don't want my sister's credit affected in any way -- to get any kind of good rates, we would need to have it in her name.

Also, I do not want to lengthen the time having a steady renter (to clarify, he's renting a room from me) is the difference between keeping the bills paid or not, which any refinance would do. I would dearly love the rental income from sharing a house to instead go to an emergency fund for said house, and the sooner the better.

Maybe I'm just paranoid of the idea/process of getting a mortgage at all. I don't know. But it makes sense to me as a person on a fixed income and knowing roommates can be unreliable (though so far I've been incredibly lucky) to want to have a shorter time until payoff

[padfun]

10. Oh one more thing.

I left a reply but it is to the main thread.

But if she passed in 2020, then that refi isnt recent. I used to refi every year and take 30,000 to 40,000 out every year. Yes the interest rate is something to consider as is your credit score, but lots of people refi often.

I will be dead by the time mine is paid off so I get cash out every time I can, and I now have $100,000 that I got from refi's, and put in other investments that I can liquify quickly if I need to.
You have lots of options and shouldn't have to stress this. Take advantage of what is out there for your benefit.

[moriah]

12. Thanks. I posted a thread in the finance forum...

... so maybe things can continue, there since a poster requested this be discussed elsewhere.

[padfun]

9. Well, however you want to do it but...

you do have options to take money out, lower the payment, and make everything right.

You WILL need to address that credit score so you should do that soon. Pay off any account that is past due, pay down any debt to get your utilization score to under 30%, and don't start any new credit for a bit.