Buying bankrupt ex partners mortgage share

Treadway1

Hi All,

Id really like some advice on a situation thats just arisen. Its quite complicated, but Ill try and give you all the abridged version.

I bought my current property in August 2004 with my then Fiancee, however, shortly after buying it (Around 6-8 months), our relationship ended and she moved out leaving me to continue paying the mortgage. I just managed to afford this by myself, but because I had the extra to pay alone, I wasnt, at that time, or any time since able to afford to buy her out of the mortgage, so it was left with her as joint mortgage holder.

Fast forward to a month ago and I received notification that my ex has gone bankrupt (I havent spoken to her since she moved out) and that her half of the mortgage now belonged to the official receivers. I was told that its possible for me to buy that half of the mortgage back from the receivers by paying them half of any equity in the house, and in the case of negative equity, I would only have to pay them a pound plus admin costs of £211. I did my sums and worked out that my house was around £1000 in negative equity due to the current housing market slump, which was perfect for me as I would then only have to pay a pound to buy the mortgage share, however when I went to see my mortgage lender, I assumed that it would be a simple case of removing her name from the agreement, but was told by the mortgage advisor that it would need a new mortgage application by me alone. Subsequently, I was refused for a mortgage on my own, despite having paid my current one alone for the last 4 and a bit years.

My question is then, am I able to go ahead and send off the details of the negative equity to the receivers and buy the other half of the mortgage back from them, yet leave my ex's name on the mortgage agreement until I am able to succesfully apply for a mortgage on my own? or would I need to be accepted for a sole ownership mortgage before or at the same time as buying the other half of it from the receivers?

Apologies if this is confusing, but if its any consolation, its been no easier to understand for me...lol.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Peter

silvercar

You may have more luck posting this on the bankruptcy board. Property owned by bankrupts is a very difficult area.

I think you could buy the official receiver's interest in the property for £1 + costs. This would be preferable for you, as failing to buy the BI would mean it could revert back to your ex in years to come. I don't know whether your ex would have to agree to this.

Once you have bought the BI, I would send the details to the lender along with proof of the bankruptcy of your ex. At this point the lender may reconsider. Even if they don't, you would now own the property, leaving your ex jointly liable for the mortgage.

Treadway1

Many thanks for this Silvercar,

It sounded logical to me to be able to buy the interest and leave the mortgage jointly owned but as you say bankruptcy is a sticky area. Ill take your advice and repost this on the bankrupt forum though.

Thanks again