A quitclaim deed transfers ownership only. The mortgage stayed exactly where it was, so you gave up the house and kept the debt. That combination is why this ranks among the most expensive mistakes in home finance. If your ex ever misses a payment, it lands on your credit, and the outstanding mortgage counts against your debt-to-income ratio when you try to qualify for your own home. Your divorce decree is the lever. A well-written decree sets a deadline to refinance (often somewhere between one and five years) or assigns responsibility for the loan. And here is a point many people get wrong: conventional loans can be assumed in a divorce. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both allow the remaining spouse to assume the existing loan at its existing rate, with a release of liability for you if that spouse qualifies on credit and income. From here, a couple of workable paths: - Prove he pays it. The most recent 12 months of canceled checks or bank statements showing he made every payment, with no lates, can let a lender exclude that mortgage from your ratios. - Lean on the decree. If it clearly assigns the debt to him and states you are not responsible, that obligation can sometimes be waived in underwriting. This sits at the intersection of mortgage and law, so pair a family-law attorney with a lender. Mapping exactly how the old loan affects your qualification is what we work through on a free Roadmap conversation (about 20 minutes).