Problem with house sale as ex refuses to sell

goldbyron

I have a bit of a problem I am hoping that someone could give me some advice. The scenario is that I bought a house with my partner in September 2004. Sadly we split up shortly afterwards and I moved out. I continue to pay half the mortgage, insurance and council tax. I am in the process of becoming ‘tenants in common’ rather than ‘joint tenants’ to register individual interest. I would not dispute that the house and proceeds is 50/50 although I had originally put in an extra £2k. We also have approx. £60k equity in the house, which relates to a previous joint flat sale. I have suggested mediation, renting out the room (it is 3 bedroom), ex buying me out (she can’t afford this), me buying her out. However she refuses to accept these alternatives. Basically communication is non-existent and she has even threatened to change the locks. There I feel my options are as below:

1. Go to a litigation solicitor and go to court to force sale. Benefits – force the house sale. Could scare ex into selling before goes to court. Legal route. Negatives – lengthy and costly process. Ex could vandalise or squat in property. More emotional stress.

2. Stop payments to mortgage company. Benefits – immediate saving of income and force house sale. Negatives – loss of equity. Very bad credit rating, which could affect future property purchase.

3. Suggest interest only mortgage to ex. Benefits –save up to £200 per month. Negatives – not a long-term solution. Ex may refuse.

What do you think the best option is or is there another alternative? Is there anyway of selling my share to a housing association or investor would consider reduced price)? I would be grateful for any advice. Many thanks.

elisebutt65

If you've moved out why are you still paying insurance and CT - she'll now get 25% discount anyway if she's on her own??

comping_cat

If you own half the house, still paying mortgage and c/t etc, you are within your rights to move back in. With you in the house, would you be able to communicate better, or maybe bring the issue to a head and make her decide what to do, at the moment she isnt having to make a decission about anything. If she still refuses to co operate, i think your best option would be a solicitor, maybe a letter would be enough to get her talking and making a decission!!! Good luck.
Catherine

hjb123

I see this must be a hard hard situation for you both to be in.

Are you able to talk to eachother at all?

If you are paying half of everything move back in. If your name is on everything you have every right to! If she wont let you tell her your name is on everything!

If you still struggle you could try going to the Citizens Advice Bureau or Welfare Rights, they should be able to give you some helpful advice

rchddap1

It is very tempting to move back in reading through your situation. You are paying the important bills (mortgage, council tax) and so have a perfect right to live there. If she does get the locks changed you of course could get the locks changed again yourself as it is partly owned by you.

She can make the threat of changing the locks all she likes, but as its your name on anything if it comes to it the police can't do anything (if I remember correctly) as you are the rightful owner....you might want to double check this though.

Sounds like your ex is in a bit of a bind....can't move out, and can't run the house on her own. With you paying for half the mortgage and the council tax they have no reason to go anywhere or do anything about the situation.

Before you make any leaps it would probably be sensible to consult a solicitor about your rights...worst case move back in and then see what happens.

waster_2

Firstly, you are not liable for the Council Tax if you are not living there and as stated above, if the property is now only occupied by one person a 25% discount is applicable. So check with the Council concerned to ensure that the correct amount is being paid. And, in any case, stop paying the CT if you are not living there. It is a pewrsonal debt on the occupier and not your responsibility even if you are part owner.

I assume you have a joint mortgage? If so you have joint and several liabilty to ensure that the repayments are made in full and on time. That means that you are responsible for everything if the other party fails to pay what you consider to be their share and vice versa. Therefore if one if you does not pay their share the the other one must pay it, otherwise you will both end up with the adverse credit rating, etc.

On the ownership side of things the change from Joint Tenants to Tenants in Common can be done unilaterally at anytime by either party. You have no control over this. However, you will still own your sg=hare and as such are entitled to enter the house at anytime even if you have to force an entry if the locks have been changed. You cannot break in to your own house. The only time you must not do this is if your ex has an injunction or restraining order issued against you. If you do try to gain access and she calls the police remind them that you are entering your own property and you are not going to cause a breach of the peace although you are unable to give the same guarantee for your ex. The police will probably need reminding of this as they are often ignorant of the law in this respect (it is a Civil matter and not a Criminal one) and will try to “suggest” that they will arrest you if you do attempt to enter. Gently remind them that you are acting in a lawful manner and that if they arrest you, you will sue them for wrongful arraest and the conswequences that flow from that. Further suggest that they seek the advice from their superior officer's to confirm this. Often Plods are lacking in any knowledge of this area of the law, although they will try and suggest otherwise.

You may need to make things as awkward and diffucult as you are able for your ex if she will not co-operate. Not nice, but then is she acting in a nice or reasonable way either? No. So you have to act in a similar fashion unfortunately. Luckily you do not appear to have any children involved which reqally complicates the situation. Remind her that you are not responsible for her welfare or providing a roof over her head. Say if she does not agree to market the property you will start to charge her rent on your share of the property and if she does not pay you will take her to the small claims court to recover the monies due as a debt.

The bottom line is she does not seem to care about you or your circumstances, so you need to take the approporiate actions to shake her up and make her realise you are not a !!!!! cat. It may be difficult, but no one else will do it for you. Even you have to instruct a solicitor, so you may just as well attempt things yourself in the first instant. Good luck.

Dora_the_Explorer_5

I guess that at the moment you feel you are between a rock and a hard place. Perhaps things mightl be easier for you to move forward on this if you realise that your ex has made a decision about what happens and her decision is that she will do nothing.
I doubt that you will be able to sell your share to a HA or any other third party, so perhaps the most productive thing you can do right now is to have a session with a family law solicitor. (Reading your post, you may already have a solicitor working with you arranging the tenants in common process.) It won't be free but I think it will be money well spent and should make you feel that you have control of the situation and are not being controlled by your ex. Hope this helps, I'm sure other posters will also have good advice for you.

bombalurina_2

waster wrote:

Firstly, you are not liable for the Council Tax if you are not living there and as stated above, if the property is now only occupied by one person a 25% discount is applicable. So check with the Council concerned to ensure that the correct amount is being paid. And, in any case, stop paying the CT if you are not living there. It is a pewrsonal debt on the occupier and not your responsibility even if you are part owner.

I assume you have a joint mortgage? If so you have joint and several liabilty to ensure that the repayments are made in full and on time. That means that you are responsible for everything if the other party fails to pay what you consider to be their share and vice versa. Therefore if one if you does not pay their share the the other one must pay it, otherwise you will both end up with the adverse credit rating, etc.

On the ownership side of things the change from Joint Tenants to Tenants in Common can be done unilaterally at anytime by either party. You have no control over this. However, you will still own your sg=hare and as such are entitled to enter the house at anytime even if you have to force an entry if the locks have been changed. You cannot break in to your own house. The only time you must not do this is if your ex has an injunction or restraining order issued against you. If you do try to gain access and she calls the police remind them that you are entering your own property and you are not going to cause a breach of the peace although you are unable to give the same guarantee for your ex. The police will probably need reminding of this as they are often ignorant of the law in this respect (it is a Civil matter and not a Criminal one) and will try to “suggest” that they will arrest you if you do attempt to enter. Gently remind them that you are acting in a lawful manner and that if they arrest you, you will sue them for wrongful arraest and the conswequences that flow from that. Further suggest that they seek the advice from their superior officer's to confirm this. Often Plods are lacking in any knowledge of this area of the law, although they will try and suggest otherwise.

You may need to make things as awkward and diffucult as you are able for your ex if she will not co-operate. Not nice, but then is she acting in a nice or reasonable way either? No. So you have to act in a similar fashion unfortunately. Luckily you do not appear to have any children involved which reqally complicates the situation. Remind her that you are not responsible for her welfare or providing a roof over her head. Say if she does not agree to market the property you will start to charge her rent on your share of the property and if she does not pay you will take her to the small claims court to recover the monies due as a debt.

The bottom line is she does not seem to care about you or your circumstances, so you need to take the approporiate actions to shake her up and make her realise you are not a !!!!! cat. It may be difficult, but no one else will do it for you. Even you have to instruct a solicitor, so you may just as well attempt things yourself in the first instant. Good luck.

Goldbyron, having read your original post and the above you have my sympathies. However, I cannot help but think that this would inflame an already delicate, if not volatile situation with your ex-partner. If you are already in the type of situation you describe with your ex-partner, I do not see how making things “as difficult as possible” will help matters except to make an already stubborn person even more determined to get what they want or in-fact, make the situation more difficult for you. As you say yourself, the more you antagonise her, the more chance you have of her vandalising the property etc. Also, do not do anything foolish like stopping payments on debts in joint names. This will only affect you in the long term for future borrowing etc.

Your best option IMHO would be to instruct a solicitor and let them do the running. It may be costly, however, it is likely to pay off in the long run if it means coming to an amicable end to your situation.

Debt_Free_Chick

goldbyron wrote:

I have suggested mediation, renting out the room (it is 3 bedroom), ex buying me out (she can’t afford this), me buying her out. However she refuses to accept these alternatives. Basically communication is non-existent and she has even threatened to change the locks.

So what, exactly, does she want?

waster_2

bombalurina wrote:

Goldbyron, having read your original post and the above you have my sympathies. However, I cannot help but think that this would inflame an already delicate, if not volatile situation with your ex-partner. If you are already in the type of situation you describe with your ex-partner, I do not see how making things “as difficult as possible” will help matters except to make an already stubborn person even more determined to get what they want or in-fact, make the situation more difficult for you. As you say yourself, the more you antagonise her, the more chance you have of her vandalising the property etc. Also, do not do anything foolish like stopping payments on debts in joint names. This will only affect you in the long term for future borrowing etc.

Your best option IMHO would be to instruct a solicitor and let them do the running. It may be costly, however, it is likely to pay off in the long run if it means coming to an amicable end to your situation.

I did not recommend, or indeed suggest, stopping making payments on any liabilities that are in either the sole or joint names of goldbyron. Indeed, I made it clear that (normally) you are responsible for all of any joint liability (known as Joint and Several Liability in legal terms).

However, if you act like a !!!!! cat the other party will take advantage of you. You need to call their bluff and make them reralise that like all bullies they will not beat you by being beligerent towards you. Being nice and getting solicitors involved too soon will only protract matters and lead to significant expense. You must act to look after your own interests. Exactly the same as she is doing.

mummysaver

Speak to a solicitor and ask them for your options and what each one would mean, how long it would take and likely costs. Then you or your solicitor will need to contact your ex to set out your preferred options - if one of these is the possibility of you moving back in she may be more willing to negotiate! Anyway the legal process and the possibility of her share of the house being eaten up in legal costs may give her the nudge that she needs to remove her head from the sand, she need to be reminded that you both have rights.

Good luck!