Friends Ex Refusing To Pay His Half - Repossession Fear

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Rockporkchop wrote: »

She could certainly have asked the mortgage company to increase the term of the mortgage without his permission. I have regularly changed the term of our mortgage without DH's permission - it only takes a five minute phone call.

This is the aim for her. As I said...she is 22, has 43 years til retirement and promotion prospects so it remains to be seen whether they will consider her a viable option right now.

Rockporkchop wrote: »

Has she got the money or could she borrow the money to pay the arrears? You say that she has paid her half but could she have afforded to pay the whole mortgage, even if she didn't want to or feel like she should? If it was me, I would beg or borrow the money to pay off the arrears and then agree a plan with the lender, such as changing to interest only and increasing the term of the mortgage. Then, after I had sorted that out I would work on getting his name removed from the house and the mortgage without the extreme urgency there is at the moment.

She intends to come to some arrangement to pay the arrears and maintain the full payment.

Rockporkchop wrote: »

The fact that the mortgage wouldn't have been granted based on just her salary is irrelevant now, it is about affordability and if she is willing to continue her current mortgage then they will almost certainly let her if she can afford it. It really isn't in the lender's interests to repossess for such a small amount of arrears.

This is what is hoped. A short story on another friend is that the repossession hearing went in her favour as it was ruled that the building society was to allow her to pay back 2 and a half years worth of arrears over exactly the same period of time. Repossession is not a dead cert but it is a concern..

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Conrad wrote: »

1) There is NOTHING she can do other than pay 100% of the debt or sell up

2) The lender is entitled to reposses unless the arrears are cleared / don't increase


End of, period.

I disagree. The lender is entitled to apply for repossession but it is not inevitable that it will happen by any means. Hence there are repossession "hearings" to decide a case on its merits. Both sides can appear to state their case for and against. Beware of giving out inaccurate information - since you claim to be a mortgage advisor you really should know better.

Conrad wrote: »

Your'e assertion there 'must be something she can do' is neave, and I don't mean to offend you with that, just being brutly honest.

Brutally honest yet again inaccurate. I stated no such assertion. I am offended that you twisted my words to mean something completely different simply to slate the fictitious comment.

Conrad wrote: »

Imagine you worked for a company with 2 owners;
1 owner went off the rails and stopped paying you half your salary.
According to your logic, that would be perfectly ok as the remaining director had no responsibility to pay you the missing half - afterall it's not his fault the other bloke stopped contributing.
Would that be fair to you as an employee - because thats what you are expecting the lender to accept - ie, half the payment because one party has ceased contributions.

Entirely different situation governed by entirely different laws and so does not bear comparison.

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Conrad wrote: »

Oh and to add, from what you say it wouldn't appear she would be able to remortgage to her sole name. Again to understand this, imagine the following headline in the daily mail;

'Woman already struggling despit having partner on mortgage, now facing repo once the full liability was transfered to her alone' - sign the petition to get the repo stopped, as this was a case of irresponsible lending

I would prefer to imagine that the final decision will be down to her mortgage lender.

Thriftysaver

She should pay the full amount and clear the arrears over an agreed period. Make sure she can prove that she has solely paid it. After arrears are cleared and she maintains payments her wages could eventually meet the criteria needed for her to take on the mortgage as the capital is reduced.

This may take a few years but her application to take him off the mortgage will be more likely be approved then, hopefully.

THriftysaver

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opinions4u wrote: »

Clearly there is absolutely no way she should look to take on the whole debt then.

I know you're desperately trying to think of ways out of a horrible situation, but, in the words of John McEnroe, you cannot be serious.

1) What would the "surviving" borrower do when the lender sells the other half of the property and the new owner of the other half moves in?

2) Why would any lender EVER lend to joint applicants again? If they repossess half a house who on God's earth is ever going to buy it when there's somebody living in it?

I appreciate your intentions, but this is a pie in the sky idea.

There is no real desperation in this situation merely frustration at the ridiculous childish behaviour of the ex. The hypothetical situation I gave does not imply or state that the repossessed share would be sold to another party altogether therefore your response is somewhat odd.

To clarify I meant that the part-owner who had continued to pay could or should be automatically given the option to buy as opposed to instant threats of repossession. I feel that lenders are far too quick to harrass innocent people and could be far more flexible about how they go about protecting their interest. They have not suggested any possible solutions to the problem and I personally feel that is wrong. Perhaps pie in the sky to expect a lender of any kind to behave better than a loan shark but hey...

opinions4u wrote: »

Absolutely right. Experience is vital. Shelter, CAB, a solicitor have that experience and expertise.

As does another forum user Rikki and this is exactly what I was asking for. (Thank you I am getting around to responding to you )

opinions4u wrote: »

The fact that there's no response to the questions in Mrs Bumble's post #4 really does restrict what anybody on an internet forum can say.

I did not feel that to rattle off answers to those questions would be valid under the circumstances. I did not ask for and indeed do not expect such detailed help or opinions. I asked for experience of the situation which has been provided. Further, since the information is not mine to divulge - it was not appropriate.

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zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

You don't say if your friend and her ex were married? I am presuming not, but if they were married she should see a divorce solicitor straight away.

Otherwise - can she take a lodger to help with the mortgage payments?

Other than that, if she cannot afford to pay the mortgage, and ex-oh refuses to contribute, then she has three options:

1 Sit tight and wait for the lender to repossess

or

2 Sell up, and use her share of the equity (if any) to buy or rent a new home for herself and her child.

or

3 Allow ex-oh to buy her out and take over the mortgage

They were not married no. I believe a fourth option is for her to take over the mortgage in her name alone although obviously she needs advice on how to go about it.

Mrs_Bumble

I did not feel that to rattle off answers to those questions would be valid under the circumstances. I did not ask for and indeed do not expect such detailed help or opinions. I asked for experience of the situation which has been provided. Further, since the information is not mine to divulge - it was not appropriate.

You asked for advice, to give advice one needs facts. You have divulged everything else about your friend and the fact that everything is annonymous means that your friend is not in any danger.

Not sure what else anyone can say.

You can't base affordability of a mortgage on extending the term, it comes down to income.

As for everything else, I have already stated my opinion and offered options but I am not sure that is what you really want to hear.

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Firstly thank you Rikki so much for sharing your actual experience.

Rikki wrote: »

My ex walked out on me ten years ago and left me to pay all the mortgage. I have continued to pay the full monthly amount and the mortgage company will still not release him from the mortgage. The title deeds are in my sole name so he has no claim on the property but if I default at any time we are both still joint and severally liable.

Can I ask how you went about getting the deeds put into your name alone ?

Rikki wrote: »

He have given her two options. I suggest she seriously considers them.

There is no indication whatsoever that even if she agreed to either of those suggestions that he would go through with them. He wants rid of this debt or to make her homeless it really isnt about him obtaining the house at all. He does not want the house.

Rikki wrote: »

In six months she has only been able to cover three months full mortgage payments, in a year this could be just six months full payments leading to serious consequences.

As explained in another response up there ^^ he has messed about so much in the last six months she paid her half and waited for him to stop d*cking about. Perhaps the wrong course of action but not with any malicious intent or gameplaying of her own. She wil be paying the full amount and arranging payment off the arrears now it is clear he has completely lost the plot and has no intention of sorting it out properly.

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Mrs_Bumble wrote: »

I did not feel that to rattle off answers to those questions would be valid under the circumstances. I did not ask for and indeed do not expect such detailed help or opinions. I asked for experience of the situation which has been provided. Further, since the information is not mine to divulge - it was not appropriate.

You asked for advice, to give advice one needs facts. You have divulged everything else about your friend and the fact that everything is annonymous means that your friend is not in any danger.

I initially posted "Just hoping for some advice from someone who may have been through something similair and has practical advice based on their experiences." I was hoping for a direct response to a direct request. The question of danger never entered my head. It was a question of answering questions regarding personal financial details that are not mine to divulge. I hope that is clear.

Mrs_Bumble wrote: »

As for everything else, I have already stated my opinion and offered options but I am not sure that is what you really want to hear.

Rikki's experience is exactly what I requested. Your opinion and offered options have been noted and I do thank you for them. I apologise if you feel slighted in any way.

Thriftysaver

I know when my friend got divorced 10 years ago, her wages were too low for the mortgage company to allow her ex to come off it. She was lucky he paid for a couple of years. However over that time with the decrease of capital and increase in wage over those years he finally came off the mortgage and into her name only.

Another friend had a similar situation to your friend about 15 years ago. He was playing silly !!!!!!s and she got into arrears. Luckily her family helped her out and she continued paying the mortgage proving she solely maintained the account. This secured proof for solicitors to obtain court to direct mortgage company to take his name off. This took about 4 or 5 years unfortunately.