‘It’s been scary’: Miami woman’s second husband has kept her in the dark about his finances — now he’s months behind on mortgage and foreclosure looms. What The Ramsey Show had to say

But that's not the only issue. Michelle's husband also borrowed $200,000 from her and has yet to pay her back. And unless he sells the house, that's not going to be possible.

The problem? He refuses to sell. And now, Michelle feels stuck and worried about her financial future.

A sticky financial situation

Michelle and her husband never combined finances because this is a second marriage for both of them. They've been together for 18 years and have kids together who are high school-aged.

They actually have a prenup her husband made her sign. But as Michelle told Ramsey Show co-hosts Jade Warshaw and Ken Coleman, “I'm actually really thankful, because he's this spender, and it's been scary because I know the mortgage hasn’t been paid in months."

Michelle thinks the home could end up in foreclosure soon. Since it's only her husband's name on the mortgage, she can't force him to sell, even though she'd like for him to do that.

Since he has a lot of equity in the home, it could be an opportunity to clean up his finances, repay her the $200,000, and move forward with a cleaner financial slate.

Warshaw and Coleman found the situation to be baffling. "There's such a level of dysfunction here," said Warshaw.

She asked Michelle point-blank whether her goal is to save the marriage or simply get her $200,000 back. Michelle seemed a little iffy on the first point but made it clear that she wants to salvage her own financial stability.

“Well, here’s the good news, to that objective, if he loses the house, that doesn't affect you financially," said Coleman.

But while Michelle may not have her credit destroyed by foreclosure, due to not being on the mortgage for the home, there's still the matter of her $200,000 — and the future of their relationship.

"This relationship is so jacked up. You guys have to get in on counseling on this," Coleman said. "You're not even together."

"It's a marriage counseling discussion," Warshaw said.

Ultimately, both hosts told Michelle to give her husband an ultimatum and see if, with the help of counseling, he could change and they could salvage the situation. Otherwise, Michelle's only move may be to talk to a lawyer and see what options she has.

Reclaiming the money

FindLaw says that when you're owed money and the person you lent it to doesn't pay, you have the right to sue them for the balance. But there's a caveat — you need to have clear proof of the debt.

If the debt is small enough, you can sue in small claims court. But most states have a fairly low threshold for small claims.

The sum Michelle is owed likely goes beyond that limit. For this reason, her best bet is probably to talk to an attorney and see what options she has.

The problem, of course, is that if Michelle doesn't have an official loan agreement in place, she may not have a leg to stand on. And seeing as how she lent the money to her husband, as opposed to a random person, it may be that they had a verbal agreement only and nothing more. In that case, she may be out of luck.