Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Georgia

Since she gave him half the home, he owns half. In doing that without him being on the hook for the mortgage she created a legal nightmare. Neither can force the other out without an expensive court battle. They will both need lawyers. Moving in without marriage and deeding property to boyfriends almost always creates legal problems. She has one, and will need to spend significant monies on legal fees to divide the home.

It is no longer "her home" or "her house." It is "their house." She made an extremely poor decision to just give away half of her house to someone with whom she had no legal relationship. This is made worse by the fact that she has a young child and she gave the house to someone with poor credit (people have poor credit for reason). Since you mention a short sale, it is likely there is little or no equity in the property. She might consider paying him off to buy his interest back and he can execute a deed (prepared by a qualified lawyer). Otherwise, they can work out something to sell it. Throughout all this, whether or not she lives there and no matter what is going on between the two, she has to pay all the payments or her credit is ruined. This horrible decision is going to cost her a lot of money, now and maybe for years to come.

I'll answer your question a little differently than the other two lawyers here (although there answers are correct) -- the boyfriend cannot force the girlfriend and her child out of the home without a Court order. She should not, under any circumstance, abandon the home or stop paying the mortgage. She should also not agree to sell the home (short sale or otherwise) unless it is by Court order. It will only hurt her. She needs to get a real estate lawyer ASAP so that she does not get bullied.

Best of luck.*****The above is for informational purposes only and does not create an attorney-client privilege.******