matermonial home taxes and condo fees

[sixfeetunder]

I finally got x to agree to sell house, but now she said i owe her condo fees and taxes for the past three years . She was the one that asked for the seperation and wanted to stay in the matermonial home and refuse to sell for over 2 1/2 yrs . is this correct ?

[good_mom]

You are both responsible for half of the following as property owners:

-mortgage, taxes, condo fees.

But she can't just live there for free. Find out the retal rate on the condos in you area and that is what she should be paying.

Example.

mortgage, taxes, condo fees, house insurance/ building only= 1500 a month
you are each responsible for 750.00

let say rent is 1200.00

1500-1200= 300/2= 150 you both owe this a month as owners.

She pays 1200 and then 150 to what is outstanding.

All other bills like hydo, water heat, cable/internet are her responsibility as a tenant.

Others will pipe in and for sure give you more advice. This is how I see it.

[Mess]

^This is good math, but your ex won't want to see it this way.

Do it up as an invoice and send her an updated invoice each month.

[stripes]

Did she pay mortgage, taxes, condo fees and homeowners insurance and any major repairs to the property for the whole time she was living there? (I.e. expenditures which were needed to preserve the value of the place, which is half your investment) If so, I would ask her for proof of payment for these things, add them all up from the date you separated until now, and reimburse her for half the total. For everything else, she's on her own.

(There's also a concept called occupational rent, which I believe means that while she was living in the property and you weren't, she was both an owner and a tenant, with you as the landlord of half the property, so she may owe you some back rent - which would be less than the rent she would be paying if she had been living in a place which she didn't half-own, but still greater than nothing. However, I don't entirely understand how this works. Others on this board probably do).

[Mess]

(There's also a concept called occupational rent... However, I don't entirely understand how this works. Others on this board probably do).

Goodmom explained this 2 posts above.

[stripes]

But goodmom's example had the ex paying the entire rent of $1200 (a hypothetical figure) to the OP. However, she is also co-owner of the property (responsible for half the mortgage, half the taxes, etc) as well as a tenant, wouldn't she be effectively paying half of that rent to herself as co-owner, so that she is only responsible for transferring $600/month to the OP?

Not trying to be difficult, just trying to figure this concept out.

[Rioe]

Look at it as if they were still together as a couple and renting out their condo for some reason. Bad business decision to have $1500 in expenses and only collect $1200 in rent, but whatever. The tenant pays their own utilities. So they are in the hole $300 a month, which is $150 each. So he should technically be paying $150 a month for the privilege of remaining a part owner. But who wants that! Had it been a real situation, they'd have increased the rent or sold the condo before taking that kind of monthly loss. He was unable to do this.

Here's what I think he should offer her. Either she forgets the condo fees and taxes and pays him his share of the value as of separation date (plus some interest!), or she collects the equivalent of her $150 a month from him and he gets half the value as of sale date.

But she can't ask for him to pay all the condo fees and taxes just because. She's the one who got to live in his asset while he was likely unable to buy a new home because his down payment was all lived in. He needs to be compensated for that in some form.

[sixfeetunder]

thanks for the info ! you know really she did it to her self because i kept asking her to sell and when we did put up on the market she refuse to show as per our realtor !! The sign was on the lot but she told realtor she isnt showing !! once the contact was off she again refuse ! so i cant see why im responsible to pay anything when i have it in writting shes the one refusing