cosign on a mortgage? can ex get into this?

[mcr]

A friend of mine is asking if I can cosign on a house mortgage with her.. we're both in 'rough' financial situations from prior relationships and have done the math and are sure we can recoup financially from the purchase of this house (we're renting rooms out).

Anyway, my ex is _very_ greedy. She lies, cheats and steals what she can, when she can and turns around and accuses me of being a deadbeat dad when I can't afford to pay for 1/2 of all kinds of expensive extracurricular activities for the kids and can't see them as often as I'd like as I have to work 6 days a week at 12-14 hour days to cover my expenses (she left me with the debts, got all the proceeds of the house, all the contents and the kids - I got my laptop and my clothes).

Back to the initial question though... if I go in on this deal, and she gets extra greedy - could there be some way she could cash in on this? what happens if I get behind on child support (I work seasonally and I know this winter is going to be a _very_ close call on if I can keep up or not).

Can FRO get involved and take the house or otherwise have an impact? Obviously it isn't my intention to ever get behind on CS payments or to mess with the agreed upon/table amounts I pay her - but I'm asking a 'what if'..

Quick replies would be appreciated... we're trying to make a decision in the next couple days if this is a safe thing we can do together or not..

[standing on the sidelines]

is your friend someone you are dating and in a common law relationship with? If the ex has any claim it would only be on your half of the house I think

[mcr]

dating yes... but I don't think it counts as 'common law relationship' (yet anyway)... any claim that "could" end up on my half of the house though, could cause a very undesirable situation, however.

[PhoenixRising]

I would recommend that you sit down and speak to an accountant about. The contract between sounds more like a partnership and you may be more protected under this type of agreement.

NOTE: I am only throwing out an idea. I qualified CA can advise you.

Some benefits if you used this opportunity for rental income based on renting out the rooms. The income would be split between you and added to your income for tax purposes. Many expenses related to the property can be claimed against the income reducing it to in some cases no increase in net income. And when the time comes that you decide to sell the property and dissolve the partnership you are either looking at a terminal loss or net gain on the property. You may even be able to gift your property at at later date to another family member.

It may cost you a few bucks but it may turn out to be beneficial in the end. Most CA's you talk to are not billing out at 400.00 dollars per hours which is what it would cost if this ends up in the family courts based on the assumption that you are then common law.

Just some food for thought.