What happens if I break up with my partner and he doesn't pay the mortgage?

When you file bankruptcy the personal liability on your full mortgage is discharged. If the loan is not kept current the lender can foreclose under the California law procedures. The foreclosure starts with a 90 day notice of default followed by a 20 day notice of trustee's sale. After that there is a 3 day notice to quit. If you still remain there is an unlawful detainer procedure. It is inadvisable but not illegal to rent the house during this period.

Once you file a Chapter 7 and reject the mortgage debt, then you would not make any more mortgage payments. I personally have not seen a case where you would owe "1/2" of the debt- if your name is on the mortgage- you would owe all of it. If your partner files Chapter 7, you still owe all of it, not 1/2 of the mortgage debt. The good news is that you do not waive your redemption or foreclosure rights when you file Chapter 7, even if you are rejecting the mortgage debt. The mortgage company still must go through the foreclosure by advertisement or foreclosure via judicial hearing. If you rent the property out, some Chapter 7 Trustees may take issue with that as you would be collecting rent on a house you are no longer paying on. One Lansing Trustee requires that all rent payments received by any debtor under any circumstances be turned over entirely to him. So in short, if you file bankruptcy, you must either rescind/reject the entire mortgage or reaffirm/keep paying on the entire mortgage. There is no way the mortgage company would accept 1/2 payments, they would foreclose, and eventually have you evicted (usually in approximately 9 months assuming the property is less than 3 acres, or more than a year if a high acreage piece).

After the house is foreclosed is when you can be legally forced to move. You can not rescind your liability on the mortgage.

The sheriff isn't going to simply come and evict you. Lenders that are processing foreclosures are now, primarily, proceeding with judicial foreclosures (as opposed to non-judicial foreclosures) which means if you go into default on your mortgage or trust deed, the bank will eventually file a court case against you. What happens after that point, however, can vary significantly depending upon your situation. In addition to possibly retaining an attorney to assist you, there are numerous organizations that assist homeowners in your situation. Economic Fairness Oregon, in Portland, and Good Grief America, in Medford, are but two. In addition to the issues with your lender, depending on the facts you may have claims that can be pursued against your ex-partner if they've neglected to keep up with required payments.

If you don't make the mortgage payment obviously you will lose the property. Usually the mortgage company files a motion with the court to proceed with foreclosure against the property. The foreclosure process typically takes several months. Technically you do not have to leave the home until after the property has sold at the foreclosure sale. If you indicated to the Court in your bankruptcy petition that you intended to keep the property and now you can't, then you need to amend your bankruptcy to reflect your present intent.