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I have a property that I've owned and paid for since 2008. I have allowed my parents to live there and have paid the mortgage. This January, my parents agreed to pay rent, paid for January and February, then decided they had half ownership of the house and stopped paying rent. Now I'm stuck paying the entire mortgage, in addition to an apartment where I live and work, while the title is stuck in a legal dispute with a hearing set for more than 3 months out. Is there anything I can do to get relief of the mortgage payment in the meantime? Maybe something we could file with a judge to force them to move out to sell the place, then continue dispute over how the proceeds are dispersed?

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    This is beyond what we can educate about, and it's why the lawyers get the big bucks, so call one. Basically, you are on the hook for the mortgage because you borrowed the money, so if you gave the property away, you'd still owe.
    – user6726
    Jun 8, 2016 at 22:38
  • I have an attorney, he's just out today and I'm doing research to see what options are available. This scenario is a far cry from giving property away. This is people being in adverse possession of a place that I intend to sell - not being able to afford 2 places.
    – Francis Lewis
    Jun 8, 2016 at 22:48
  • I'd also ask the attorney to make a will for you that makes sure that your parents don't inherit a penny if you die. In many countries, the fact that you accepted a rent people will make it very difficult and time consuming to remove them from the house. Which under the circumstances may have been the plan all along.
    – gnasher729
    Jun 9, 2016 at 9:10
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    How did the title end up in dispute? To the relief question: You can simply stop paying. Eventually the bank will foreclose, and may evict your parents and ask the sheriff to auction the house. If the auction gives less than mortgage and fees, you'd still owe that. If the auction is for more than the money owed, these "escheat funds" are owed to the title holder, but it depends on the competency of the Sheriff how soon you see them.
    – user662852
    Jun 9, 2016 at 11:41
  • Any answer would be unhelpful speculation without more facts about the jurisdiction (location of property), what exactly the parents' contribution to the purchase and maintenance of the property was, number of months they lived there, and details of any communications about the terms of their living there. Please post an answer yourself to let everyone know what your lawyer says. It's an interesting question.
    – Patrick Conheady
    Jun 9, 2016 at 12:05

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In the U.S. I'm not aware of any companies that will mortgage property without title insurance. My understanding is that title insurance covers the costs arising from a dispute of title. So if you or the lender bought title insurance you might get the insurer to deal with the financial and legal consequences of the lack of clean title.

If there is no insurance then that's one of the risks you and the lender bear. You could negotiate the costs of dealing with it with the lender, or you could "put" the problem to the lender for the cost of whatever damage they may wish to do to your personal credit and any equity you have in the property.

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If I understand you correctly, you're saying you own a property your parents reside in, and they pay the mortgage as their rental fee. Correct? The fact that the (presumably) at will rental agreement has requires their rent be paid directly to the bank in the amount of your mortgage, gives them no more right to ownership then any other renter, whose rent (again, presumably)goes toward the mortgage, since very few homeowners own their properties outright; most people have a mortgage.

Who owns the property is solely decided by whose name is on the mortgage. If they own half of the house, (this would be either a joint tenancy or a tenancy in common). If this is the case, there is a lot more information I would need to convey to you for you to understand your rights and responsibilities. However, if they were never on the deed and they've just begun to think that they should own half because they've been paying, then they have NO claim to your property. If they refuse to continue paying the rent (i.e. the mortgage amount), your only choice is to evict ( being your parents, I'd try to explain and work it out). If you have some tenancy in common or something, likely I said, the analysis changes. Hope I understood what you were asking.

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    By "on the mortage", do you mean "on the deed"?
    – user6726
    Jun 21, 2016 at 21:05
  • No, I pay the mortgage. They had agreed to pay a rental fee, in January, that is less than the mortgage payment, which they paid for 2 months. I'm currently going the eviction route, unfortunately, but with all of their claims and lies to their attorney (saying they paid the homeowners insurance, which is lender-paid, meaning I have always paid it with the mortgage payment), we decided enough was enough. What is the tenancy in common?
    – Francis Lewis
    Jun 22, 2016 at 20:18
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    Ya... Unless they're on the deed, they have no claim to ownership under the circumstances presented. There are squatters rights laws, but those don't apply in this instance. My general rule is One should always refrain from doing business, including lending money to family.,
    – gracey209
    Jun 23, 2016 at 3:46

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