(in) My Mother Manipulated Me Into Putting A Condo In My Name. Now She's Wanting To Collect.

(Indiana)When I was in my early 20s I lived at home for a short while. I went to college, graduated, immediately went to Japan to teach for a year, and then moved back home while I prepared to go back to school for my master's. A few months after returning home, my mother sat me down and showed me a condo she had found. She said that we were not going to be able to stay in our current home for long and that because of her credit, she wanted me to put the condo in my name. My very first words were "I would rather not." She then said that if I didn't, she, my 2 younger sisters, and I would all be homeless because she would not be able to afford rent.

I should have continued to say no, but I was afraid of how my mother would react.

Due to me not being at my job for at least a year at the time, my "grandfather" was asked to sign as well for the mortgage. I put quotes because he and his wife adopted my mother when she was in her 40s. The mortgage was put in both our names and the deed was put in only mine.

My mother then drew up a rent-to-own contract which stated that she would make the monthly payments and when it was paid off, the property would be put in her name. I only lived there for 3-4 months until I moved out. As far as I was aware, she continued to make the payments and everything was fine.

In the early fall of 2022 she decided that she wanted to sell the condo (along with my sister who had purchased her own condo) and they were going to buy a house together. She had already talked to a realtor and everything before talking to me. When I pointed out that, per the contract, she was not allowed to discuss selling the condo without talking to me first, she went off on me - saying the contract was just for show and not meant to be followed.

In November 2022 I went no contact. My youngest sister had already done so, and then in May 2023, our other sister did as well. When the last sister went no contact, our mother became belligerent. I received texts almost daily for months and my sister ended up getting a protection order. In December 2023, my mother showed up at my workplace with a therapist in tow and was removed by police. I then got a 2 year protection order granted.

After my sister had gotten her PO, I contacted the mortgage company and painstakingly got my email added to the account. Prior to this, I had zero of the info and never had online access to the account. Because of this, I was able to see that she was not paying by the 1st and instead was primarily paying in the second half of the month. Per the contract, I could have notified her that she was in violation and if she didn't pay within 14 days, would be evicted. I did not because I didn't want to have any contact and because she was still my mother.

Last week, I received an email from an attorney letting me know that the mortgage had been paid in full, years and years early, and that a Quitclaim deed was prepared for me to sign to transfer ownership to my mother. My husband is very cautious as he does not trust my mother. He is wondering if there is anything we should be looking out for or any way we can fight it.

One possible important piece of info is that the mortgage company was never aware of the situation. We realized a couple of years back that the company believed I was living there as we did not have a rental mortgage, but my mother was going to meet with an attorney and get herself added to the deed. She never did. As I was not collecting rent, I didn't do anything either.

Any suggestions?