<prompt> Human: My girlfriend is 23 I am 24. Her mother is struggling because she is underwater on her house owes 280 on 250 value approximately. She is considering moving into something much more manageable for her a townhome around 150K. However due to her inability to manage the 280K mortgage my girl friends moms credit is pretty low and she is unsure if she will be able to get a mortgage on a lower property. Is it a terrible plan to have the mortgage under my girlfriends name and her mother pay her rent? Currently her mother struggles to make the mortgage but it would be close to cut in half. My girlfriend would not live there as she has her own apartment and I have my own condo.Thoughts anyone?  <response>: Who is going to pay the shortfall on the mortgage when the old house is sold and the down payment on the new place? Thats a lot of out of pocket expense. 