[Doug Lafleur]

...move!? My mother is 80 yrs old. She sold her home of 30 yrs to be close to her children. In order to get her close to us, we had to put an addition on our existing home. We could not afford the cost of the addition so she paid for it out of the sales of her own home. We built a completely working apartment that utilizes an existing bedroom on our house. She pays nothing except her phone bill. We pay everything including the higher taxes with the new addition. We have been doing this for 6 years. I recently lost my job and now I'm facing foreclosure. We cannot refinance because of the economic downfall of the housing market, and we now owe more than what the house is worth. The only way we call possibly save this house from foreclosure is to rent out her apartment. My mother is a very capable woman and is involved in a very serious relationship with her 80 year old boyfriend. She claims he's the love of her life and he feels the same way. Her gentleman friend also owns his own home in which has stated on numerous occasions that he would like her to live with him. I also have a sister that has offered to take her in. She claims that because she paid for the addition she is the legal owner (she is not listed on the deed) is not moving out unless we loose the house and she also mentioned because she paid for the addition, if we were to rent it out, she believe that that rent money should go to her. She is not interested in seeing us try to salvage the house from foreclosure. The atmosphere here is very toxic and my wife and my mother are at each others throat. What do we do?

[Ike]

The toxic atmosphere is not your main problem. You have to get her out of there. You have to do it legally, which might take a month or so, depending on landlord-tenant laws in your state and jurisdiction. If you don't have that much time to get her out and rent, then you have to consider a short sale, refinance, or various alternatives including moving out yourself. Before you do the last one, consult your mortgage holder and an attorney. Many banks are having problems foreclosing because of bad paperwork. Don't let them bluff you.