BOSTON HOMES BLOG

Pending sales fall in August

— By: Marilyn Jackson

Pending sales of condos and single-family homes in August fell in year-to-year comparisions, but the number of single-family homes placed under agreement between July and August increased, according to the Massachusetts Association of Realtors.
For condos, the pending sales dipped from 1,466 to 1,435 in a month-to-month comparison. In August 2009, pending sales of condos totaled 1,770.
Kevin Sears, broker-co-owner of Sears Real estate in Springfield and president of MAR, said that the rock-bottom interest rates may be starting to have an impact.

Petitions to foreclose drop, but deeds nearly double

— By: Marilyn Jackson

A record number of foreclosures were recorded across the state in July, but the number of petitions to foreclose dropped, according to the Warren Group, which publishes Banker & Tradesman.
The petitions are the first step of the foreclosure process, and many times the financial problems can be resolved before the properties are sold.
Fewer petitions may be a hint that the housing crisis is abating. The federal government has created programs to help rescue homeowners who are facing foreclosure.

— By: Linda Goodspeed

 

This house sale would need court approval

Q:

I am divorced and my ex-husband owns a portion of our home. He has been among the missing for the past five years. I haven’t heard from him or have any idea where he is.

I am considering selling the home. How would I go about doing this since he is still listed as part-owner?

A:

I think the first thing you should do is to consult a lawyer – not a real estate lawyer, but one versed in family law. Your question really isn't about real estate as much as it is an issue of family law.

The next step would be to examine your divorce decree to see what provisions, if any, it contains for the distribution of proceeds from the sale of jointly owned marital property, in this case, your house.

It would be very unusual if your divorce decree did not contain some provision addressing how the equity in the house was to be divided. Depending on what the divorce decree said, you would be entitled to that amount from the sale of the house.

The problem in your case is 1) who's going to sign the deed to sell the house since your ex, who jointly owns the property with you, is nowhere to be found, and 2) what happens to your ex-husband's share of the proceeds.

Under the law, a person who is absent without being heard from for seven years is presumed dead. Just being absent, however, isn't enough. The absence must be unexplained and continuous, and there has to be some documentation that the person has not been heard from, including the circumstances surrounding the absence.

You said your ex-husband has been absent for only five years. That means you can't have him declared dead (which would enable you to sell the house without his signature) for two more years.

If you want to sell the house before then, you would need to go to probate court and petition for a court order authorizing you to sell the house without your ex-husband's signature.

The court might require you to issue some kind of citation putting your ex-husband, or anybody who might know where he is, on notice that the house is going to be sold.

The court order would have to be recorded with the deed, saying you had authority to sell the house without your ex-husband's signature.

There is still the question of what would happen to your ex-husband's share of the proceeds until be either returns from the missing or can be declared dead.

To protect his interest, the court might appoint a guardian to oversee the sale and make sure the price is fair, etc.

The court would also likely require that your ex-husband's portion of the proceeds be held in escrow until seven years has passed and you can petition to have him declared dead.

Your situation is not one that comes up every day, and it's hard to answer definitively exactly how the court is going to rule. But probate courts have great latitude to accomplish justice and equality.

This is a situation calling out for a practical solution.

 

 

 

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