The deed/title was gifted to me by a parent but the mortgage is still in her name. Am I legally allowed to sell the house?

As an investor I buy and sell property all the time and the mortgage might not be in my name. I buy property subject to the existing mortgage. This means the mortgage remains in the name of the seller, from which I purchased the property.

In order to sell a house the mortgage loan need not be in your name. Contact a local title company, explain the situation and see if there would be a problem using them to handle the sale transaction.

You need not contact an attorney to see of a title company would handle the transaction.

You may add a person to the title deed of a property and not inform the mortgage lender, this is done all the time by title companies. If a spouse is not on the mortgage loan application in the purchase or refinance of a house, once all the mortgage lender conditions have been satisfied, and you have given prior notice to the title company handling he closing, the title company will prepare a quit claim deed to add the spouse that is not on the title not the mortgage loan. This has been done in the mortgage and real estate industry for years.

In order to sell the house and you are indeed on the title deed, you simply need to contact a real estate agent to list the house for sale.

I hope when your mother gifted the house to you, the transaction completed at a local title company. In using a local title company you would prevent any possible future legal problems.

Though if the use of a notary, is a legal means of transferring title to property, a notary is not able to insure the title as a title company.

It concerns me a little about your mother not be aboard about the sale. Would the proceeds from the sale of the property go into providing her with another place to stay and the funds from the sale of the property placed in an account that would benefit her as it appears as if you did not contribute to the mortgage payment in any way.

It would appear that any equity would belong to your mother. Of course you would be required to pay the

existing mortgage off and there would be closing cost. After the mortgage has been paid and closing cost, any funds remaining would be your mother's to assist her in her retirement years and should be placed in an

account that would benefit her.

It is more difficult to inform you about taxes, because no one know what tax bracket you are in and other tax

liabilities you might have. You would want to speak with a local CPA or the person that prepare your taxes to make an accurate estimate of how much you tax liability would, in this being a gift to you.

I hope this has been of some benefit to you, good luck.

"FIGHT ON"

I think you will find the deed is not in your name, simply as if someone wishes to transfer the deeds legally and if it is still a property being paid for then you would have had to refinance it with a new mortgage before the deed is transferred....... as she is paying the same mortgage then only she can sell the property, what she may have done is write a will naming you as the beneficiary of the house when she dies

If there is a mortgage you mom was legally allowed to quit claim you on to the property, however she legally also had to stay on the deed. You cannot sell without her signing also & the lien/mortgage will have to be paid in full at closing.

No, you cannot sell that house. She can't sign over a deed to you that she does not have. The lender still owns that house until you finish paying off the mortgage. So the only way for you to sell the house is if you refinance it first under your name.

Chances are your parent never transferred the title to you because to do so would have required the mortgage to be refinanced. Thus its actually not yours to sell and completely up to Mom. She may have given you a quitclaim mortgage assigning the deed to you, but that doesn't become official until it is recorded at the county courthouse.

On the slight chance you are solely on title, it does not matter that you aren't on the mortgage. You would be free to sell the property, but would have to sell it for more than the mortgage for the property to be able to transfer to another owner.

The tax issues of gifted property differ when done between immediate family and can be attributed to part of your inheritance exemption, well before the death of the parent. Of course it does matter how expensive the gift is, but even then the gift tax would be the responsibility of the giver, not the receiver.

Your mother may have gifted you the home (transferred deed) but she is still on the mortgage. Yes you can sell the home. The fact that she gifted the home to you is evidence she no longer wants the home, unless she reserved a life estate. In that event you could not sell without her permission.

the definition of a "mortgage" is a loan secured on a property

(this is security for the mortgage company that if the mortgagee defaults they can foreclose the property)

So I have no idea how in the US somebody can have a house with a "mortgage" on it and transfer title to the property to somebody else (removing their name on the title) without repaying the mortgage or the mortgage company's approval

cos if this is correct then in your case if the house is in your name only and your mother defaults, the mortgage company could not foreclose (cos it aint your mothers house any more) and she would just become bankrupt (I assume)

And if this were the case- everybody would just buy a house, transfer it to somebody else (a spouse?) then default the loan

They could then just live in the house with spouse and not have paid a dime for it.

not without paying off the mortgage. The mortgage holder has a lien on the house. And there aren't tax penalties, but there might be tax on any profit from the sale.

frankly if there is a mortgage on the house, your mother doesn't own it, nor do you

you might be on the title with the county and receiving the tax bills but if you can't afford the mortgage payment, you need the approval of your mother to sell it, she will have to sign any transfer papers to relinquish her liability in the house--the mortgage

No. In most places, the title deeds have to be in the name of the person selling the property. See your solicitor/lawyer. The paperwork must be in order - and it would have helped if you'd had a Power of Attorney, if mum isn't able to handle her affairs.