All About Joint Mortgages

When first applying for a mortgage loan, the lender will review the borrower’s assets and debt, among other factors, to decide if they are willing to put up the money requested. One option available to prospective homeowners is to apply for a joint mortgage, which allows up to four separate people to pool their assets together for greater buying and borrowing power. Before jumping into a joint arrangement, however, it’s crucial that all parties understand the different options and legal obligations that come with it.

All About Joint Mortgages

For obvious reasons, most married couples buying a home will choose to enter a joint mortgage. However, marriage is not a requirement for the application; family members, friends, or even business partners can choose this arrangement. Being a joint owner of a property is a complicated personal commitment—continued ownership will require each person’s agreement on all decisions related to the property. No individual owner in a joint mortgage may sell the property, take out a loan against the property, or remove another joint owner from the property without the express approval of all owners or a court order.

Joint mortgages come in two types of arrangement, which are differentiated primarily by the dispensation of the property after one of the owners passes away.

Joint Ownership bestows equal rights to the property upon all owners. If one of the owners should die, the other owner(s) legally inherit their share of the property by right of survivorship.

Joint Tenants in Common is an arrangement by which partners give up their right of survivorship to the property—should one of the owners die, the property could be deeded to another through a will, or to the other owners via a judgment from probate court.

Remember to talk with both your fellow borrowers and your loan officer to make sure that a joint mortgage is right for you!