I cosigned on a house for my brother
This is why we tell people not to co-sign unless they are able and willing to risk that money becoming a gift... or are able and willing to treat it as business rather than family. Unfortunately that advice is a bit late now to help you. When you cosigned, you promised the bank that you would make any payments he didn't. The bank doesn't care why he didn't, they just want their money on time. Getting him to repay you for covering this is strictly between the two of you, and unless you signed paperwork at the time establishing a contract other than the promise to cover his loan this becomes Extremely Messy. First step is to make the payments so the loan doesn't continue acquiring fees and hurting your credit rating, and keep it from falling behind again. Then you have to convince him to repay the money you have effectively given him. Depending on your relationship, and financial situations, you may decide to carry him for a while and trust that he'll pay you back when he can, or sic a lawyer on him. You need to make that decision, recognizing that it may be a matter of how much family drama you are willing to tolerate. He wasn't wrong that a mortgage would help your credit score, assuming that this was a perfect world and everyone held up their end of the bargain. However, now that he hasn't, you are still legally obligated to pay the loan amount (including his portion of it). As for a lawsuit, it would be hard to prove what he said verbally, however, it doesn't hurt to call a lawyer for a free consultation.
Ya my dad worked on the audit team in the 70s that actually looked at the deal. He later used the connection to get an accountant job at McDonald's.   He read Ray's and the brothers letters as was helping as the impartial 3rd party to vet the audit and numbers.   The buyout fued was bullshit. The 1% was a contentious issue the brothers wanted and kept trying to include in the negotiations but eventually gave up on when Ray offered them a satisfactory deal in return. Every class my Finance Prof writes a number on the board, I have no idea what it is other than it is related to the field of Finance. But I have it on good authority that it will be a bonus question on the final exam to find out what it is.    Date | # Written ---|--- Oct. 12 | 13 Oct. 17 | 15 Oct. 19| 15 Oct. 24 | 15 Oct. 26 | 15 Nov. 2 | 11 If anyone knows please help a brother out. Dates are North American. "I can answer this question for my jurisdiction (Florida, USA), because I lived through it. My Dad (""Alice"") passed away in 2008, just as the housing crisis was starting to heat up. What happened to the Mortgage? My Dad had a will in place.  It was an old will (from the 1980's), but never-the-less, a will.  We had to provide paperwork to the court that my Mom had already passed away, and my oldest brother was living out-of-state (he would have been the executor, otherwise).  With the proper paperwork, I became the Executor, and the property passed in to probate.  At this point, the ""Estate"" was responsible for the house and the mortgage on it (meaning me, as I was the Executor). We decided to sell the house, so we hired a realtor, and set an asking price about $40k over what was owed on it.  As we waited for it to sell, I had to make monthly mortgage payments, and payments to the HOA (otherwise the HOA could put a lien on the property, making it more difficult to sell, should we find a buyer). Is it Automatically Transferred? In most jurisdictions, I would say not ""automatic"".  I definitely had get an estate lawyer and file the proper legal paperwork with the local county courthouse.  Some states have an easier probate process (""Summary Administration"" in Florida), that eases the requirements for small estates. Is Bob expected to pay it off all at once? No, the mortgage holder was happy for me to make payments (out of other estate assets) in lieu of my Dad.  The were earning interest, after all.  This is probably true in most cases. Can the House be Foreclosed on? Yes.  In our case, being 2008, we had a hard time selling the property.  The asking price quickly went from $40k over what was owed, to $20k over, to $10k over, then to being equal to the mortgage value.  Finally, I approached the bank about options.  They suggested a ""Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure"" process.  It was easier for us, and the bank had to pay less lawyers and such.  Otherwise, a ""Deed in Lieu"" is effectively the same as a Foreclosure.  At that point, we stopped making payments.  Eventually, me and all my siblings (the ""heirs"") had to sign the proper paperwork giving the house over to the bank. In our case, the bank did not pursue us (or rather, the Estate) for the difference between final (auction) sale price and the mortgage balance (it was an FHA loan, so the US Government wound up picking up the difference).  From what I understand, this could have happened, and we would have wound up with basically nothing out of the Estate. Can the Lender Force the Sale? I can't give a definite answer on this, but it probably depends.  If you don't pay?  Yes they sure can--it's usually part of the standard mortgage contract!  I see 2 other options:" From what I understand, you have money earned in US and after paying taxes that are due in the US, you have transferred a portion of this to your brother. As you have earned this money outside India, there is not tax liability of this amount in India. Your giving it to your brother would at best be treated as GIFT [and not Income]. As you are giving it to your brother there is no limit on the amount of money that can be gifted. There is no tax liability for your brother. For more details read the  http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/tax/gift-tax-whatsa-gift_664238.html http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/bline/blnri/exp-tax.htm You are going to need a lawyer anyway so check with him.   But here is a path you might be able to go down.   Put the house in your name right from the get go.  He gives you the money but you sign over a promissory note to him so that you net less than $14000 (gift tax annual exclusion for the calendar year). He can gift everyone in your household 14k per year tax free and he could gift it to you and your partner in less than 7 years.  You can pay him back in anyway you like or not at all as the promissory note could be reduced by 28k per year. I think a CPA and lawyer in your state would be able to confirm that this would work for you. It's perfectly legal for your brother to make a loan to you.  However those two transactions are separate.  If he defaults on the LC loan because you didn't pay him, it's his responsibility.  If you default on your loan with him, you've got big problems.  Money + family/friends = scary. I know this question has a lot of answers already, but I feel the answers are phrased either strongly against, or mildly for, co-signing. What it amounts down to is that this is a personal choice. You cannot receive reliable information as to whether or not co-signing this loan is a good move due to lack of information. The person involved is going to know the person they would be co-signing for, and the people on this site will only have their own personal preferences of experiences to draw from. You know if they are reliable, if they will be able to pay off the loan without need for the banks to come after you.  This site can offer general theories, but I think it should be kept in mind that this is wholly a personal decision for the person involved, and them alone to make based on the facts that they know and we do not. The two of you inherited the house. unless the will specified otherwise, it's half each.