- September 15, 2023
- Posted by: legaleseblogger
- Category: Related News
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My older brother is a compulsive gambler. We currently live together in a townhouse that is owned jointly by him, my mom, and me. We split all the house expenses equally and make monthly payments to our mom’s account. However, his gambling addiction has caused significant financial strain and has put the ownership of the house at risk.
In 2011, we initially tried to help him by refinancing the house to pay off his debts, as well as my mom’s and our car loan. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long before he started frequenting the casino again and falling back into the same cycle of financial ruin. This cycle involves him exhausting all his resources, such as his paycheck, overdraft, line of credit, credit cards, and even borrowing from multiple payday loan companies or stealing money from home.
Over the years, we have attempted to intervene and find solutions. In 2015, we refinanced the house once again to help him pay off his debts, and we had discussions about him quitting gambling. However, he was unable to break free from his addiction, and it soon became clear that he was sinking deeper into financial trouble.
In 2016, I made the mistake of loaning him money without fully understanding the destructive nature of compulsive gambling. I thought that helping him avoid high interest rates would alleviate some of his financial burden. However, he failed to repay the loan, and I soon realized the extent of his addiction and its impact on his ability to fulfill his obligations.
In recent years, his addiction has only worsened. He has resorted to juggling money from various sources, such as his paycheck and credit cards, to continue gambling or pay off his payday loans. He now spends long hours at the casino, neglecting his health and basic needs. Despite our efforts to reason with him, he remains resistant to seeking help and continues to spiral out of control.
Given the severity of the situation, we are now faced with several pressing questions and concerns. Firstly, we need to find a legal way to ensure that he pays his share of the house expenses diligently each month. Additionally, we are considering the possibility of selling the house to alleviate the financial burden on my mom and me. However, it is unclear whether my brother would be willing to sell, as he co-owns the house with us. If selling becomes necessary, we would need guidance on the steps to take in order to proceed.
Another concern is whether I can recover the money I loaned to my brother back in 2016. Unfortunately, the loan agreement lacks a specific date and interest percentage. It only specifies a fixed monthly repayment amount and includes promises related to him quitting gambling and getting better. It seems unlikely that I have legal recourse to retrieve the loaned amount, but I would appreciate any advice on this matter.
It is evident that we cannot continue in this unsustainable situation, and we are desperate for assistance and guidance on how to navigate this complex and emotionally draining issue.
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FREE Legal Document translation
****** just grabbed a
Your brother is on title. Your mom cant to anything to the house without his signature.
You cant “force him” to pay your mom because he is on title. You cant kick him out of his own house.
If you want to forcibly remove him from title thats complicated and requires a lawyer.
Go see a lawyer.
If your mom has the resources your best bet is probably to offer to buy him out of his half of the house and in conjunction with that make a consumer proposal to all his creditors to use that money to pay them out a portion of their loan. And then stop enabling him after that. You have some leverage because his only asset is the house but he only owns half of it. So it’s very difficult for creditors to get value out of half a house because nobody wants to buy half a house if they get and try to enforce a judgment. If they push him into a bankruptcy the trustee would need the funding to apply for a partition and sale of the house.
If that’s not possible for you then the house needs to be sold. You’d have to figure out what your mortgage allows since there’s still a couple years on it. Easiest is to get his consent to sell the house. He may just agree to this because he gets his half of the cash from the equity and he can pay his debts (or more likely gamble it away).
If he won’t cooperate, then she would need to apply to court for an order of partition and sale. For right now she should seriously consider taking unilateral steps to sever the joint tenancy and turn it into a tenancy in common (ideally registered on title). As things stand now, if she dies, her half of the property goes to your brother (which means his creditors). In a tenancy in common, her half would go to her estate. This can be a slow process, especially if contested.
The fastest involuntary way to get the house sold would be to just stop making mortgage payments and have the bank exercise its power of sale. But then you’re potentially looking at default interest and penalties and a forced sale is not going to realize as much value as a normal sale. So practically it will be quite expensive.
With respect to your debt to your brother, given it has a specific repayment schedule rather than being a demand note, it was breached more than two years ago and he would have a limitations defence. If he’s cooperative, you could get him to sign a new note to pay off the old note. Or you could sue him in small claims and get him to sign a settlement agreement that leads to a consent judgment. But keep in mind that just puts you on par with all his other creditors and he may already be insolvent (if his debts are bigger than the equity in the house). If he goes bankrupt you’ll get pennies on the dollar like everyone else. And if he tries to pay you first, that’s a preference to a family member that can be set aside.
If he does hit a bout where he seems more cooperative, he may want to enroll in the OLG’s self exclusion program, which will get him banned from all casinos for a period of time he picks.
You canÔÇÖt make him do anything unless he has signed a contract and you take him to court to enforce it. You have an agreement for the payment and it has been several years. Is it worth the money to go to court???
At this point even that would be trying to get blood from a stone.
You are both enabling him and eventually will take the ride down with him.
He has no reason to seek help until he hits bottom and has to get his act together. You are funding his care so he might as well do what he wants.
The house wonÔÇÖt get paid and the bank will come after it. Loan companies will try to get a piece too.
You have a choice, walk away and just accept the money as a loss or keep enabling him and go for the ride and be ready to lose everything.
Buy him out then cut him off.
Lawyer here. Court Application for Partition and Sale.