Partner walked out 2 weeks ago joint mortgage

CheekyMunky

Hi, and could someone help?
Partner has gone back to Mummy's house he has joint mortgage(taken out two years ago) with me , he paid lump sum £80,000 deposit , i put in zilch, but have paid my half for the past two years,shared the bills etc, no kids,but he hasn't paid this months mortgage.
I never signed a Declaration of trust agreement, so where do i stand apart from in the house at the moment?

CloudCuckooLand

Make sure the mortgage is paid, one way or another.

You might not care about his £80k, fair enough, but the damage to both your credit histories would be significant if the mortgage falls into arrears/is repossessed.

'Joint' means both of you are responsible...until you can reach a compromise that allows both of you to exit from the arrangement to your satisfaction.

Which can be tricky, as 1 income may not support the mortgage...leaving a long-term continuation of something you'd both rather be shot of...

CheekyMunky

Thank you for your quick reply "cloud cookooland".
We've bought the house for £138,000 two years ago he paid deposit £80,000, mortgage we currently share £190 each a month, but this monthhe has said he can't pay.
I am on min wage and cannot afford to take on the mortgage alone(unles i eat beans on toast forever) as the collaterol he put down would outweigh my motgage repayments. Do i contact the bank now and explain the situation?
I honestly don't know what to do.

rolo-polo1965

CheekyMunky wrote: »

Thank you for your quick reply "cloud cookooland".
We've bought the house for £138,000 two years ago he paid deposit £80,000, mortgage we currently share £190 each a month, but this monthhe has said he can't pay.
I am on min wage and cannot afford to take on the mortgage alone(unles i eat beans on toast forever) as the collaterol he put down would outweigh my motgage repayments. Do i contact the bank now and explain the situation?
I honestly don't know what to do.

My husband and i split uplast November. I went and saw a solicitor straight away, she advised me to inform the mortgage company about our situation which i did.

Eventually we divorced and i have not moved back into the family home after buying him out of the house.

The children and i feel this is the best thing i could have done as we are all very happy.

opinions4u

CheekyMunky wrote: »

Partner has gone back to Mummy's house he has joint mortgage(taken out two years ago) with me , he paid lump sum £80,000 deposit , i put in zilch, but have paid my half for the past two years,shared the bills etc, no kids,but he hasn't paid this months mortgage.

You are jointly liable for the full mortgage payment.

If you are in a position to make this payment in full (and future payments), then do so (and keep a receipt). This will maintain your credit rating.

If you can't afford a full payment, pay what you can for now and contact your lender to try and agree a short term reduction in payments. This could damage your credit history though, but not as much as missing full payments.

I never signed a Declaration of trust agreement, so where do i stand apart from in the house at the moment?

While I would assume that there is some bitterness in the air, the best solution would be to talk about the practicalities if the relationship isn't going to recover.

- should the house be sold?
- could you buy him out?
- who gets what share of the equity?
- who pays the fees associated with the course of action taken?

In the interim, you should reach an agreement on who pays what. This is in both your interests. Protecting your credit ratings will make starting again a lot easier.

If you are unable to sit down face to face to sort this out, could you negotiate via his mother? Alternatively get a good solicitor and be prepared for a big bill. It would be preferable to sort things out for yourselves and just get the solicitors to finalise the paperwork though.

I'm sure it's not nice. But the worst thing either of you could do now is to allow the mortgage to slip in to arrears by being stubborn.

Fire_Fox

CheekyMunky wrote: »

Thank you for your quick reply "cloud cookooland".
We've bought the house for £138,000 two years ago he paid deposit £80,000, mortgage we currently share £190 each a month, but this monthhe has said he can't pay.
I am on min wage and cannot afford to take on the mortgage alone(unles i eat beans on toast forever) as the collaterol he put down would outweigh my motgage repayments. Do i contact the bank now and explain the situation?
I honestly don't know what to do.

Have you claimed for the 25% single person discount on council tax? Can you take in a lodger to help with the mortgage and bills? Have you looked into benefits as a single person? You won't get the mortgage paid, but you might get more support towards living costs. Mortgage and council tax are classed as priority bills by the debt charities, do everything you can to pay these at the expense of most other outgoings.

Pay whatever you can on the mortgage - even if that is only half - and make sure it's clear that the money has come from your bank account not a joint one. Ask the bank if you can go interest only on the mortgage for a while and consider posting your budget on the Debt-free Wannabe board for help on where to cut back. Read round the Old Style board for ideas on cheap alternatives to beans on toast!

Do you know why your ex can't pay the mortgage when he is living at home, is it possible he has debts you know nothing of (e.g. gambling, alcohol, drugs)? Or is he just plain awkward? I would have thought he would not want to risk being repossessed and losing his share of the equity.

CloudCuckooLand

He will presumably wake up in a day or two, and realise he wants his £80k.

The mortgage was around £58k on the figures you've given. Buying two years ago could mean the current value is £106k, due to the crash. A quick sale by the lender upon repossession could mean they get less than £100k.

Clearing the mortgage leaves £42k.

Drop him a text and ask if he is happy at giving away £38k, for the sake of a few months of £190.

'Going back to mothers' should make life cheaper. Has he also lost his job? Check directgov website for assistance schemes, if there has been job loss.

If he hasn't lost his income, and if you can go in with parents/friends, letting him take on the place would probably be easier all round, as you are going to be unable to afford even the mortgage, let alone buy him off.

Warn the lender of the situation, as OP4U and FF say.

HELEN_T_2

Hi - sorry to hear of your troubles, it's not easy whenever it happens. As others have said, protecting your credit history is mega mega important!
1st thing tomorrow morning, contact your mortgage lender's customer service department and advise them of the situation. Remember, it is as much in their interest as yours to help. It costs lenders thousands of pounds to repossess a property as well as bad publicity.
Is your mortgage on a repayment basis? ie you are paying off the capital and interest every month. If you are unsure ask them, and if it is on repayment , see if they will allow you to go onto Interest Only. This will have 3 benefits- your payments will reduce as you are only paying the interest every month, 2ndly, by not re-paying any of the capital you are not increasing the equity in your property(the difference between the debt and the value of the house). This means that when you finally reach a settlement with your partner, and assuming you sell the house with him having 50% of the equity, he will not benefit from anything that you have paid, 3rdly by maintaining a payment your credit history will not be affected.
You could also ask your lender if your mortgage product allows payment holidays? some do. You could ask if they will allow you to defer payments until the end of the term.
I hope some of this helps - please remember that you arent the 1st to face this and wont be the last. Staff in mortgage customer service departments are trained to deal with this sort of situation and offer non -judgemental solutions. Under the mortgage code of conduct, lenders agree to handle customers payment problems sympathetically.
take care and all the best
H