Some advice please???

Hopeitsthateasy

Hi everyone,

Just thought I'd share my own story with you..

I'm 26 and I find myself in a seemingly impossible position to move other than bankruptcy.

I got married very young and over the course of the relationship accrued about £40k in debts and am on a mortgage for approx £125k. My relationship went sour and my ex still lives at the property paying the mortgage. I have tried to get her to agree to sell it for some time but she doesn't want to. We have one joint loan between us of £18k but every other debt I have (with the exception of about £8k) was run up with her for the kitchen, bathroom, furnishings etc in the house we bought as it was in a right state to begin with. We had originally agreed to sell the property and split our seperate ways but since this she hasn't budged on her change in decision. We have a 5 year old daughter and I don't want to put her in a difficult/hostile environment so I have done my best to just get on with life.

I had a business with my ex's dad which fell apart after my relationship ended. After 2 years of dire profits and a worsening financial position for myself we ceased trading in July last year. After 2 months without work and being unable to get any kind of job I started up on my own. Since September I am slowly building a client base and starting to be able to afford my basic outgoings again.

I have sought legal advice and been told that if I were to go bankrupt then it's highly unlikely the official receiver will pursue my debt against the equity in the house as I have not paid for it for such a long period of time (nearly 4 years). We have also signed a letter from a solicitors stating I had no beneficial interest and was on the mortgage in name only.

My problem is that I now live in a friends house rent free whilst she tries living with her boyfriend - she has immaculate credit and no previous history at this address. I am worried that going bankrupt will scar her credit and prevent her from obtaining anything in the future. I will continue to live here for some time which may help if I am discharged before I move again but at the same time, I don't want to divulge what I'm doing incase she asks me to leave. What can I do about this?.. Can I have a different address for the debt or anything like that?

Thank you in advance.

Chris

debtinfo

Hello and welcome

You must put your current address on the bankruptcy forms, It should not affect your friends credit rating.

What is the equity position of the property at the moment, I think it is unlikely that te OR will take no interest in the property as you have said here that a lot of your debt went nto improving the property and thus raising its value

Hopeitsthateasy

Yeah I did say this, however the debt wasn't originally leant on this basis. I have no idea what so ever regarding the equity. It is unlikely to be very high as mortgage has been paid for 4 years and the property is still in an incomplete position - the upstairs is still a shell with no flooring, plastering or a complete bathroom.

There has been a development in this time frame (amazingly).. Now Nationwide have applied for a charging order on the property at a court in Swindon (nowhere near me) in March..

My ex has now decided to sell the house but has asked me to attempt to make payments towards all my debts until the house is sold. But, this leaves me doubtful as to whether I can go bankrupt after this period? I remember reading somewhere that you can't go bankrupt within a certain time period after the sale of property. I won't receive any monies from this sale though as this was initially agreed with my ex wife, hence the condition of the statement at the solicitors.

This is all getting very deep and confusing and leaving me a little dazed. What is now my best option given the circumstances?

Many thanks debt

debtinfo

Its very difficult to help without knowing all the facts and figures. What i can say is that you can go bankrupt when you want regardless of when you have sold a property. What you cant do is to dispose of monies that are rightfully yours.

If you could provide details on the value of the property, the mortgage, the likely value of the charging order and your unsecured debts we may be able to help.

If you dont want to post that info i understand

Hopeitsthateasy

I'm meeting with her Tuesday to discuss everything but to be totally honest there's no way I want to pay back all the debt until she sells the house to then go bankrupt anyway. Totally defeats the object, not to mention will cripple me financially again.

Way I see it is this.. We both owe those debts and she should resolve them as much as I should, especially as it is her that is going to take the proceeds from the house. She hasn't paid a penny towards them at all.

I will try and get some facts and figures for you but roughly this is how it stands from memory;

House was bought for £147000, deposit was £14700 (borrowed from her family), 4 years payments of mortgage (original payment approx £650 pcm though this may have increased as it was a 2 year fixed deal).

Not sure what else to do really, she's bombarding me with guilt trips that a bankruptcy would make her and my daughter homeless etc.

Also, the charging order is for £3106.

fiveyearplan

Find out the sale of the house would likely fetch (go online and see what properties have sold for in the area). www.nethouseprice.com

I agree with debtinfo that it is highly unlikely the OR would not expect that you have no beneficial interest in the property.

What is the timeframe for the charging order? Does your ex have debts of her own too? I agree with you that it would be silly for you to keep servicing your debt when the eventual outcome is likely to be bankruptcy.

Have you spoken to any of the debt charities like CAB, National Debtline or CCCS?

Hopeitsthateasy

Average house price £124,012 (16 sales) - That does seem fairly low to be honest. Most around there (at least when I lived there) in good condition went for about £165k. They were totally refurbished though, which the house isn't at all at the moment.

I don't know what to do really, I will contact a debt helpline again next week but I guess the situation regarding whether they think I am entitled to money in the property is down to the OR on the day really.

She has some debt of her own, £2k on a credit card is from our debt. The rest I accrued entirely. She hasn't paid anything towards the shared debt since we split though. The court date set for the charging order is March 3rd, so about 6 weeks.

debtinfo

I think the first thing to discuss is how much equity there actually is, it might not matter anyway

Hopeitsthateasy

Yeah, well if there isn't much they can't apply anything to the house anyway can they.

I'll phone CCCS next week - they were helpful a couple of years ago. Need to talk to an expert before I make a decision really.

Thanks to both of you