Who pays the mortgage while the house is for sale?

The lender keeps billing

Putting a sign in the yard doesn't pause the mortgage. The loan is a contract between the lender and whoever signed the note, and the bill arrives on the same date whether the house is on the market, under contract, or sitting empty because one of you has moved out. A late payment lands on the credit of everyone on that loan, not only the person who was supposed to send it.

So settle this early. If one of you has already left, I moved out. Am I still on the loan? explains why leaving the house changes nothing on the note.

Agree on it in writing

If you can still talk, you can decide this between yourselves. Some couples have one person pay and get credited back from the proceeds at closing. Others split each payment, or have whoever is living in the house cover it as a kind of rent. There's no single right answer, and the choice is yours to make.

Write it down. A short signed note saying who pays the mortgage, the property taxes and the insurance each month, and whether anyone is repaid from the sale, prevents the argument that otherwise shows up in the last week before closing. If you each have an attorney, they can put it into a temporary agreement.

When you can't agree, the court can

Oregon gives the judge a tool for exactly this. Under ORS 107.095, while a dissolution case is pending, the court can issue temporary orders about the use and possession of property and about who pays the liens on it, and a mortgage is a lien on the house. Whether to ask for one, and what to ask for, is a question for your attorney. I'm a broker, not a lawyer.

My part is practical. I send you both the same listing updates on the same day, so whoever is carrying the payment can see how long it may need to run. The guide on paying for the house while it sells goes further.

Keep a record

Whoever pays, keep proof. Save the bank confirmation for every payment you make on the mortgage, the taxes and the insurance from the day you separate until the day you close, and keep it all in one place your attorney can see. If your agreement says someone gets credited at closing, those records are what the title company and your attorneys will work from. A simple spreadsheet is enough, as long as the number at the end isn't a matter of memory.