Getting my name off deed to house

[merime]

Hi, I am currently being sued by Citibank. More will follow. I have a part time job. The only thing I have my name on is the deed to the house. Citibanks court date is Jan 31, 2011. I want to get my name off the deed. I have paperwork for a quit claim deed. Do we need to go to the courthouse. If anyone knows the steps we need to take, please share. I really need the help!! Thank you

[Pandora]

Some more info is required as we do not know if you've already filed, plan on filing, or have been discharged. However...

quit claiming does not remove your responsibility for the loan if there is a mortgage, it only removes you from collecting any proceeds from the sale of the house and/or your responsibility to upkeep. You can only remove your financial obligation by having the other person refinance the house in their name only, thereby removing yours entirely.

With that being said...

If you're planning on filing BK (if you havent yet) you may want to check to see if you can actually do a quit claim as it may be considered an inside transfer and fraudulent.

[merime]

I don't know if I can file. My husband makes about $70-80 thousand a year. The debt is mine alone. The only thing in my name is the deed to the house. I want to file for bankrupcy, but can not afford a lawyer. My husband has not shared his finances with me for 17 years. I only make $360 every 2 weeks. A lawyer would cost what i use to feed 3 kids. I feel so scared and alone.

[DeadManCrawling]

You are jumping the gun here, for many reasons, and are probably too late to affect anything in the way you envision.

You could open yourself to a number of problems, both with the Citi suit and later, if other legal issues arise or you file BK.

First, quit-claiming, as noted by someone else, does not work in quite that fashion. Also, if it DID work as you hoped, Citi would simply challenge it as a fraudulent transfer--you transferred it on the eve of litigation--solely to avoid a lien. They would win.

Secondary issues are future suits that could use the same idea. Also, in filing BK, you may hurt yourself terribly. If the QC deed were judged valid, in BK court, you could lose all or part of a homestead exemption, particularly in states where husband and wife enjoy large exemptions when married. For all those reasons, I would never do such a thing unless you are told to by an attorney you have hired and trust.

Any or all of what I wrote might apply, or might apply differently, and likely not to your benefit.

The time to have prepared for this possibility was years ago. Most of us do not see these things that far in advance, and get caught flat-footed. I know I did.

[merime]

thanks. actually we had the quit deed notarized last november, but my husband didnt file it. would that matter? i was still on payments when that was notorized.