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Mortgage in both names

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Comments

  • davidmcn
    davidmcn Posts: 23,596
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    Somebody's bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189
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    myotai wrote: »
    But, if my confusion and disbelief is going to be met with ridicule and scorn I might as well just move on to another forum where (hopefully) I'd get a more mature response.
    Seems to me that the maturity is lacking in one direction only.

    It's very simple.

    You and your ex bought a house together. You own it jointly - you still haven't said whether as Tenants in Common or Joint Tenants.
    Your relationship ended. Neither of you did anything to transfer her part ownership to you. You are both still joint owners.
    You now want to sell the property. Why would the other joint owners NOT need to be involved in that process?

    Land Registry are not psychic, and know nothing about your relationship and whatever agreements you may have - except what you tell them. Their whole point is to register the ownership of property and prevent people except the legitimate owners from gaining ownership. How would you feel if you found that the OTHER joint owner had managed to remove YOUR name from ownership of the property...?

    If you can deal with each other as responsible mature grown adults, then she is quite likely to agree with you about the equity in the property, and simply sign the paperwork.
  • steampowered
    steampowered Posts: 6,176
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    Could you try remortgaging with a different bank, if your income allows it?

    Even if you can't remortgage, you will want to ensure that your mortgage contributions get you a bigger slice of the equity.

    At the moment you are joint tenants so you may find the split on sale would effectively be 50/50. You may wish to consider severing your joint tenancy and moving it into a tenancy in common. See https://www.gov.uk/joint-property-ownership/change-from-joint-tenants-to-tenants-in-common.

    If you genuinely cannot locate her after conducting a proper search, you will be able to apply for a court order allowing the property to be sold. A District Judge has the power to sign the Land Registry forms for her if required.

    It would be worth speaking to a property solicitor about this, I think.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189
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    Could you try remortgaging with a different bank, if your income allows it?
    And that, I suspect, is why the property was left in joint names...
  • G_M
    G_M Posts: 51,977
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    myotai wrote: »
    But, if my confusion and disbelief is going to be met with ridicule and scorn I might as well just move on to another forum where (hopefully) I'd get a more mature response.
    There are 2 aspects to all this:

    1) your need/desire to understand your legal position and options.

    You've had this explained several times so the forum has fulfilled its function, though you are unhappy about (and perhaps don't believe?) what you've been told

    2) your desire to vent/express your anger/annoyance at the position you find yourself in. Having raised this yourself, you should not be surprised that others comment on it.

    Since those comments have been largely unsympathetic, and have held you to some extent responsible for the situation you are in, and pointed out that you could/should have realised where things were going, you have now taken the hump and theatened ( :rotfl:) to find a more sympathetic forum. (sorry - 'mature')

    You may, or may not, find a more sympathetic forum. You won't find a different legal answer.
  • hazyjo
    hazyjo Posts: 15,466
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    myotai wrote: »
    Hi,

    Not sure if you understood my initial post. That is EXACTLY what she has done. Walked away and apart from getting her 50% if I sell, has had nothing to do with the house (and the mortgage) nor has she EVER made any payments towards the mortgage, insurance etc...

    So yes, clearly she CAN walk away and that is the end of that! Apart from her getting her 50% that is!

    Nice.




    I did understand it - but she only did that because you let her. Legally, she is still responsible. You chose to keep paying alone. If she literally packed a bag and went with no way of contacting her, you should have taken legal advice immediately. If you'd have stopped paying the mortgage, she would have been held as responsible as you. It is a joint mortgage.


    It seems you acknowledge all that, so I'm not sure why you're so shocked and find it so surreal. As I said, did you think her name would just drop off or something? What did you honestly think had happened about the fact that it was bought jointly with a joint mortgage?


    It doesn't matter who earned what - yes, if you'd left, she would have been up X creek without a paddle as she wouldn't have afforded it. You would have both been held equally responsible as it's a joint debt. Same in reverse - just because you earned more, you were no more liable than her. You also could have stopped paying. Nothing missold about it. Getting a joint anything with another person is a massive commitment - especially when it it's financial! I don't have any financial ties to my other half and we've been together over 4 years. I'm twice divorced so am probably more cautious than most! The house is mine and mine alone. That's the way it'll stay unless I keel over.


    Jx
    2023 wins: *must start comping again!*
  • FBaby
    FBaby Posts: 18,367
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    Funny how you only see one side of it and seem to struggle to understand the notion of what an investment is about.

    If it wasn't for her, you wouldn't have been able to get the mortgage (which at £180K was massive considering your income). So without her, there would be no equity to share. Add to that the fact you've already acknowledge that you were not in a position to buy her out after she left due to your credit rating, so again, if you'd sold then, there would be no £50K to share.

    So yes, she made a good investment in the first place, but you needed her to be able to have your share of it too.

    Now why you are getting all dramatic when you haven't approached her yet and have no idea what she will say seems a bit of a waste of energy. For all you know, she might be happy to just put her name to the papers and agree to get nothing. That would be silly of her because as an enabler of the investment, even if she contributed nothing towards it from a financial perspective, she should be able to get something, but maybe she would be fair and not expect 50%.
  • myotai
    myotai Posts: 102 Forumite
    Relatively dramtic maybe!
  • myotai
    myotai Posts: 102 Forumite
    Relatively dramatc maybe!
  • Marvel1
    Marvel1 Posts: 7,151
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    myotai wrote: »
    Moral is this:-
    • Bag a bloke
    • Leave
    • Reap 50% of profit on property without lifting a finger!

    Lesson is sort it out asap when one leaves ;)
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