[quote=bearishgurl][quote=frenchlambda]The problem is that at the time of divorce, there was only $10K of equity in the house (appraised value: $340K; balance on the loans: $330K). In other words, pretty much my entire contribution to the down-payment disappeared in the loss of value of the property after 5 years.
All that I got was the right to keep the little of equity in the condo.[/quote]
In essence, what you did here was agree to pay back the $200K (half of which was your ex’s debt) for $10K in “equity.” This is not even enough to pay a RE commission to a broker to sell it![/quote]
That’s not how I see it.
He had 50% ownership of a $340k property and 50% responsibility for $330k of loans (of which $200k were unsecured). And he had 85k in contributions towards community property that he could get back when dividing property during divorce. Net value: $90k, assuming he does not intend to default on the unsecured note and bear the consequences.
When the dust settled, he had 100% ownership of the property, and 100% responsibility for the loans, and a stipulation from the ex-wife that he is in fact owed those 85k. Net value: $95k.
So, assuming that he didn’t sign away his right to 85k in MSA somehow, it’s not all bad.
[quote]The wording does not say mature, or mention a balloon payment date. Wording has to be specific. You can’t have the word “Balloon” and a date by it.[/quote]
I did some googling. This is a weird wording but it’s not dissimilar from some other balloon notes I found.
