Tennessee woman built a $660K home with her in-laws — Dave Ramsey says to sell it after her father-in-law passed away and her mother-in-law moved out

Both families contributed $100,000 each toward the down payment and building costs for the $660,000 home. They moved in September 2024.

Sadly, Ruth's father-in-law had passed away in June 2025. By August, her mother-in-law met someone new and moved in with him. She first said she'd keep paying her full share. By January 2026, however, she cut her contribution to $1,500. And last month, she said she would stop paying entirely — but she still wants her cut when the house is sold.

Ruth called into The Ramsey Show this week asking what she can do, and Dave Ramsey didn't hesitate: "The house is gone. Sell it immediately." (1)

Ramsey suggests Ruth's next steps

With only 18 months of payments behind them on a $660,000 house, there's very little equity built up. The sale proceeds may not fully cover what both families put in — meaning one or both sides could walk away with less than their $100,000.

Ramsey's instruction on dividing the proceeds was to deduct every dollar the mother-in-law promised to pay above $1,500 that she didn't.

"Deduct what she promised to pay, everything above $1,500 originally, and whatever she doesn't keep her promise on; deduct that from her half of the proceeds to make the deal fair," he suggested.

On the emotional side, he also recognizes that this deal cost the couple a lot of money.

"The way I would quantify that," he says, is that "whatever money I lost, whatever tears I have shed over the stupidity of this deal was worth it for that precious six or eight months, and to be there when Pop passed. That was the cost of that."

Why Ruth's arrangement failed — and how to avoid the same trap

Ruth had no written co-ownership agreement. That single gap is what made her situation unrecoverable the moment her mother-in-law decided to stop paying.

Under a joint mortgage, every co-borrower is equally responsible for the full payment — regardless of any private split they agreed to among themselves. If one party stops paying, the lender comes after all borrowers equally.

Rocket Mortgage explains that, if someone stops making their share, "the lender can penalize and come after any of the borrowers for the money, since they're all equally responsible." (2) Miss enough payments, and every co-borrower's credit suffers.

A co-ownership agreement, drafted before closing and reviewed by a real estate attorney, is what governs what happens when circumstances change. It specifies each party's monthly contribution, what triggers an exit, how buyouts are calculated and how proceeds are divided on sale.