Help - My ex has abandoned the house

Mini500

Problem is, my ex doesn't want to sell the house because of the negative equity. And as far as I know, if the house is sold, it's going to be difficult for me to live with the debt, and wouldn't be able to declare bankruptcy for it for 5 years after it is sold.
Buy to let or renting my half is fine, except for the fact the ex is refusing to pay anything towards the shortfall (I have asked him about this already) and realistically speaking, unless I lived in the property myself, I could not afford to rent somewhere, and also pay the shortfall of my half of the property.
Strangely enough renting out was something he wanted to do months ago, but having chased and chased him for the documents I needed to sign to allow us to do this, was met with no response.
To be fair, I'm stumped. And as daft as it sounds, repossession and bankruptcy seems to be the only option I have left available that won't see me completely strapped for cash for the next 5+ years. It's gonna be hard, but I'll survive.

Gorgeous_George

Looks like another case where sharing a mortgage is much more of a commitment than sharing a marriage certificate.

When will we learn?

GG

Mrs_Bumble

This is a joint mortgage? If so that means that he is jointly and severally liable for the debt which means that if you give the mortgage company the amunition as to how to reach him they will chase him for the debt jointly with you.

If you could arrange to switch the mortgage to interest only in the interim period whilst the property is on the market, is the lender happy to do that under those circumstances? Will the property sell? Even in negative equity it would be better to try to obtain a sale and then arrange repayment of the outstanding debt than have a property repossessed.

I think that you really need to speak to a professional debt counsellor before making a decision about bankruptcy as it can be a bit more complicated when you have assets. You can contact National Debtline, CCCS, Christians against Poverty, Community Money Advice, they will all offer advice free of charge.

Bankruptcy is not an easy option and could leave you unable to obtain credit of any kind for quite some time to come, this includes being able to take General Insurance on a monthly basis as well.

Repossession would also have a huge impact on both you and your ex partners future credit history and ability to ever own a property again in the future.

Speak to the lender further, make some arrangements with them, get them to chase your ex partner, speak to the debt counselling charities.

Mini500

1/ I cannot afford the mortgage
2/ I cannot afford to pay interest only which has only been offered for 6 months anyway
3/ 1 lodger would only help pay interest only (see option 2 although I am advertising)
4/ Would need 2 lodgers to pay full mortgage, full time, all the time and that's not guaranteed
5/ Ex is refusing to pay any shortfall for when I don't have lodgers in
6/ Ex is refusing to discuss any further options - unresponsive to e-mails regarding requests for discussion and I don't have any other contact details for him
7/ Cannot sell in current market as it would take too long (and would need to pay mortgage in this time to avoid repossession anyway)
8/ Cannot sell to a "buy now" company, as would be left with at least 25k debt, which i could not afford to pay, and would not be able to claim bankruptcy on because I would have been seen as knowingly selling below market value
9/ Renting full property is not possible, as I could not afford shortfall and to live somewhere else at the same time, and ex won't pay it.
10/ Sell and rent back scheme will not happen as the house is not worth enough
11/ I do not have any legal course of action regarding getting ex partner to pay anything towards mortgage (never want to hear the words "jointly and severally liable" again!)

Unless I am mistaken, I have no option, the house will be repossessed, and I will have to declare bankruptcy for the debt - honestly, if there is any other way around this other than the above - please HELP ME!!!

Gorgeous_George

The answer is to deal with the problem together. You are both jointly and severally liable for all of the mortgage. You both need to solve the problem.

There is no magic wand that can be waived. Bankruptcy is a coward's way out and may not be as straightforward as you may think (I have no idea).

Contact your ex and arrange to meet to discuss the way ahead. It is not all his fault - you abandoned the house too.

GG

Mini500

I did not abandon the house, he kicked me out and took my key. Threatened to take me to court to pay half of the mortgage if I didn't leave him alone - which he did because he knew i couldn't afford it, and I couldn't afford to risk it being true (I have only recently looked into doing the same thing and found out that it's not even possible)
I offered to move back in and help him pay the mortgage if he was having difficulties, and now he has moved out completely.
I cannot contact him as I don't have his mobile (and yes I have asked his friends, but they don't have it either which is typical of my ex's behaviour anyway) and as I have said above, he is not responding to e-mails asking to meet with me to discuss.
Cowards way out it may be, I have spent the last 2 weeks solid working my !!! off doing budgets, advertising rooms, phoning everyone possible, getting legal and financial advice to get a way out of this situation - my ex has done nothing to help, not even sent an e-mail to say that he is aware of the consequences of the situation we are both in.
There are numerous cliche's that I can think of that befit this situation, but I shan't type them here i've rambled enough.
Call me anything, call me an idiot, call me stupid for getting involved with someone like my ex, call me a flippin' mentalist for getting a house with him - but for heaven's sake do not for one minute call me a Coward.

Gorgeous_George

I'd be tempted to pay nothing. The house will be repossessed and your credit rating will be trashed for a while. Save what you can in an account in your name only.

The lender will chase both of you but if he earns most, he has most to lose.

Apologies for my earlier post. That doesn't make the advice all wrong but, as I say, I'd stop paying. Sell amnything in the house that you don't want. Do not pay half the mortgage unless a professional advises you to do so. You may as well live there for free until it's repossessed. Any payments you do make will be seen as half his payment. if you see what I mean.

Good luck.

GG

Mini500

That's ok, apology accepted. Just a bit riled that I've been left in such a position by someone who is a grown man of 30 (supposedly) and who should be doing everything in his power as well to safeguard his own financial future, never mind my own!!!
I have sought all the financial advice I can - as no matter whether I pay anything or not, as we are jointly and severally liable for the payment it will not benefit me in any way. I have been advised to move back in, and save the money as you suggest - i'll need these for possible legal fees, and if it is repossessed I shall need it to declare bankruptcy in the end. I cannot afford to pay that much, it'd take me forever at an amount that I could afford to pay that would allow me to have any sort of life at all afterwards.
I shall, and will continue to try to regain communication with my ex, but (and I will allow myself this one cliche!) "you can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink"
He knows what's at stake, and so do I. At least I am facing this head on, whilst his is buried crotch deep in sand!

ok - one more
WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU ONLY MAKES YOU STRONGER!!!
Wish me luck!

Trollfever

and would not be able to claim bankruptcy on because I would have been seen as knowingly selling below market value

Your property is only "worth" what somebody is prepared to pay for it.

Information on bankruptcy:

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/


Stolen from Merryn Somerset Webb, 29/01/08.

On the plus side you’ll have the interesting experience of finding out what it is really worth. An auction is the purest possible way of finding out the right price for something. There’s no PR, no careful marketing, no estate agent lies or manipulations, no ‘staging’ and no waiting for the ‘right buyer.’ There’s just a man with a hammer and a room full of potential bidders. And the price one of them eventually pays? That’s the market price – the right price for that house given the prevailing market conditions. I wonder if the Battersea penthouse would get £5m if it went to auction.

repocounsellor

Ok having looked at this situation, my advice is that it is infinately better to sell your house on the open market rather than allow it to be repossessed and sold at auction for considerably less. I negotiate with lenders and courts every day for borrowers who wish to sell whilst in negative equity. Essentially it can be agreed to allow you to sell, and then any balance remaining (shortfall) would be left as an unsecured arrangement, (still joint responsibility). Once unsecured and the property sold, its much easier then to renegotiate the payment terms and period over which its over. Ultimately you would still have the option of declaring yourself bankrupt if you and your ex partner we're unable to agree a payment arrangement between the two of you. I won't mention the words which state that you're both responsible, but indeed that is the case, so there is no way to force him to pay, or honor his obligations, however with a much smaller balance outstanding, on an unsecured arrangement, with payments negotiated at an 'affordable' level then maybe he will be more inclined to play ball.

Related but a seperate issue. If it is your intention to allow the property to be repossessed by your mortgage lender, there are things that you should be doing now to mitigate the impact of repossession. Obtain 3 valuations of the property and photographic evidence of the fittings / fixtures and overall condition. Your lender is responsible for obtaining 'fair market price' but rarely do they as they want a quick sale. Once sold they will pursue you for any shortfall. If it can be demonstrated that they sold the property at a vastly reduced price (which they will), they can be sued, possibly negating the shortfall claim, and the need to enter into bankruptcy.

Hope this is helpful - anything else i can do pls contact