Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts

Thank you for your question.

In the event that your brother wanted to take out a loan to be secured by your joint property, the lender would demand that both owners grant a mortgage on the property so that the lender can foreclose in the event of non-payment.

The simple answer to your question is, no, he cannot do this without your knowledge.

You may want to sit down with your brother and iron out a property ownership agreement, including how income will be handled, how maintenance and improvements will be handled, who is entitled to what percentage of equity, etc.

Your brother can take a mortgage on his half only. While I think that it is foolish for a lender to take a mortgage on a half interest on real estate, some lenders will do this.

I assume the property is owned as tenants in common, theoretically he can get a mortgage on his interest in the property, but I am not sure many banks would give such a loan. A hard money lender might. If the property is owned as joint tenants then he cannot get a mortgage without you.