Can you sell your house if your name isn't on the mortgage note?

I should know this seeing as I am a licensed real estate agent, but I am not 100% sure. I think the answer is yes. Logically the bank holds the note, so as long as they accept the payoff amount, I would think it is ok. Why would someone who was responsible for the debt mind? Unless it was a tax shelter of some sort? I guess maybe the law might require the person who owes the note might have to sign off also.

I’ll send the question to some people who might know for sure.

You can, if the house is willed to you and you alone.

My mother passed and left her house to me in her will. I am in the process of selling it.

You need some legal document or authority to sell the house if your name is not on the mortgage note. Either power of attorney or proof that you inherited the house. You can’t sell someone else’s property. You have to have something, some legal authorization that shows you have the right to sell the property.

@lillycoyote But the note is not the property, the deed is. The bank who owns the note is the owner of the property, or has the lein on the property. Again, I am not 100% sure, just thinking out loud.

@JLeslie… someone can “sell” a house that they still owe money on, and there the bank is, technically the owner, the lien holder, they are basically selling their equity, and anyone can “sell” a house as long as they have the authority to do so, I think.

@lillycoyote The OP said the person’s name is on the title and deed, just not the mortgage. Isn’t that similar to having a title that is not clear basically? So if the owner wanted to sell, they would have to pay off all liens, in this case the mortgage. Do they have to legally find the person who took out the mortgage to get rid of the lien? Or, can the current owner just clear up the title himself. That is basically what this question is. I guess I would want to know if the person on the mortgage is still paying the mortgage?

I think the bottom line is that you can’t sell someone else’s property without the legal authority to do so. Issues of community property aside, if the person is alive you need power of attorney to act on their behalf. If the person is dead then you need to be legally entitled either as heir or executor of the estate to dispose of someone’s property. We may be arguing semantics here but I think that’s the way it works whether their is a lien holder or not and whether or not the living person’s or deceased person’s name is on the mortgage or the deed.

I think I still disagree, I don’t think it is semantics. Hopefully someone who knows the laws well will answer.

Yes, but the money you get from the sale goes directly to pay the balance of the loan. If the sale price is less than the balance due, you have to pay the difference, or the bank can block the sale.

@AshlynM ’ what State is the property in?

Indiana