Expert: Lisa Webber - 2/20/2008

Question
an offered ws thron to me last night by afriend that can no longer affored her home.what is required to take over payments that have a bank involved.do i nedd to be approved by the bank by credit or income or boath?.i dont know much  thank you Jacqueline

Answer
Yes, you would need to get the bank involved.  If her mortgage is assumable, you could take over the payments as is, but you'd need to be approved by the bank as far as your credit score and income.  If it is not assumable, you'd need to qualify for a new loan.  You want to make sure you go through the process legally, with the bank, to make sure everything is credited to you.  I would also recommend consulting a real estate attorney as you want to make sure the paperwork is all completed properly.  When you take over payments, you also want the deed changed to reflect that you are the new owner.  This is very important!  If you don't have the deed changed, you can make the payments on it and then your friend can come back at a later date and claim the house.  Then you would have to go to court and prove that you made payments on the house for a certain amount of time and have a judge decide whose house it is or they might split any value that is in the house between you two.  This procedure could be very costly, much more than if you were to have a real estate attorney guide you through the process now, to make sure everything is handled properly.  Good luck to you!