Mortgage Seperation

pcairns98

In October me and my partner (not married) brought our first house together. Unfortunately last month we seperated (on her terms) and to make things easier i moved back to my parents house as she did not have anywhere else to go.
Since moving out i have carried on paying half of the mortgage as i did not want it to get into arreas. Since this i have found out that she is about to move a friend in as she is struggling to cope with paying the bills and everything else on her own.
I have been informed that if she has a lodger then i am entitled to half of what they pay. Is this true, and if so how do i go about getting payment? We currently do not have any intentions in selling the house as it is a good investment.
Also in speaking to her, she has said that if i stop paying the mortgage then she will freeze the equity. Firstly what does this mean and secondly can she do this without me saying so? She is a mortgage advisor and is confusing me with all sorts of terms, and knows i do not have the foggiest about what she is talking about. Please help!!! :mad:
(P.S. Excuse the spelling)

beecher2

Is there any equity in the house? You say it is a good investment - how long are you willing to stay financially linked to an ex?

Cannon_Fodder

What do you (and she) think "freezing the equity" means?

She can try, whatever it is, but in the end if you wanted to you could force the sale. And unless you have a declaration of trust and are tenants-in-common, the proceeds would be split 50/50 in accordance with being joint tenants. After clearing the mortgage, of course.

You are entitled to "rent", yes. The lodgers money should cover your half of the mortgage, ideally. If it doesn't or she is awkward about paying it to you, then move back in. You are entitled to live where you are paying the mortgage. Only if she is cooperative should you be flexible.

If she is already resorting to threats, maybe it would be better as a clean financial break. It sounds like it is going to get messy.

You don't want to fall into arrears, argue over who pays them, mis-time it, and end up repossessed - that won't just freeze the equity, it will pretty much lose it, as a repo will command a lower than normal market price.

pcairns98

yes it has gone up a bit over the short time we have had it and we put down a 15% deposit. in reality i would prefer for her to buy me out which she isnt in a position to do currently or to sell the house, which again she isnt willing to do. we have a joint loan out also which we are paying half for, is there anyway to get me off of my half of that, such as getting another loan out to pay off my half???
Ideally i would like to get out of as much as possible as quick as possible!please help!!!

opinions4u

pcairns98 wrote: »

I have been informed that if she has a lodger then i am entitled to half of what they pay. Is this true, and if so how do i go about getting payment?

It's certainly not an entitlement that you "get half" but I can see the logic that it should be contributing to the mortgage payment.

Every situation is different. You should really seek legal advice on the whole matter. At present you are very exposed to your ex not paying the mortgage and you being liable for the full amount

We currently do not have any intentions in selling the house as it is a good investment.

In a perfect world you would sell up and invest any equity in something else that is exclusively yours. At the moment you are building up a potential capital gains tax bill for yourself in the future.

Also in speaking to her, she has said that if i stop paying the mortgage then she will freeze the equity. Firstly what does this mean and secondly can she do this without me saying so? She is a mortgage advisor and is confusing me with all sorts of terms, and knows i do not have the foggiest about what she is talking about. Please help!!!
(P.S. Excuse the spelling)

Don't let her take the mick out of you. Get good legal advice with a view to selling up and ending your financial commitment to this woman and this property. Failure to do so could leave you with an inability to get a mortgage again in the next few years.

Make the break so you can get on with your life.

pcairns98

Cannon Fodder, thanks very much for the advice, but just wondering how i would force a sale? excuse the ignorance but im pretty new to all of this and didnt expect to be doing this after such a short time.
i have already thought about moving back in if she becomes un reasonable about the situation but feel this would make the situation worse.
im thinking that i need to get some good legal advice to find out exactly where i stand!

Cannon_Fodder

"ordering a sale" http://mobile.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/families_and_relationships/relationship_breakdown/options_for_homeowners/preventing_a_sale

Not the best or first option, and definitely requires legal advice - which you should seek anyway if she does not compromise. But if she thinks she can take the lodging money to pay for her half while you pay for the other half of something you are getting no use of, the option might need to be pointed out...

Yes, you need to keep paying the mortgage to protect your half of the equity and avoid arrears, but not being there means, in my opinion;

- the ex should pay you 'half a rent' for her using your half of the house
and
- the lodger should pay you 'half a rent' for them using your half of the house

To keep things simpler, you might aim to agree that the lodger's rent is all yours - if it is sufficient - after all the lodger is only there to fill the gap of you leaving. The threat of moving back in should highlight the awkwardness that could be created and hopefully make her see the sense of being cooperative.

pcairns98

I recieved this e-mail earlier from my ex regarding what i discussed earlier and was wondering what any of you guys thought of it.
Also, when we were scrapping our deposit together her father put up part of it as a gift to us. She is now saying that if she was to buy me out then she would take this off of what i would be entitiled to along with money we recieved from sellung her car. There is nothing (to the best of knowkedge) in the mortgage, or drawn up by a solicitor saying that this was put in by her father seperately or that she sold her car to raise money for the deposit. As a result the figure she has given me to buy me out "when she can afford to" is a lt lower than i expected. Can i fight for this moeny to be split 50/50 or is she in actual fact entitled to it???

The e-mail reads:

"Following our conversation yesterday, I have come up with 2 solutions as to how we can move forward

If you are not prepared to pay half the mortgage anymore, I am happy to freeze the current value of the property. I have attached a spread sheet showing the breakdown of deposit and your entitlement as far as this goes. I have also encluded your entitlement to the increase in value the property has made over the last 6 months.
The figure shown in blue is the amount you will recieve when I am able to release you from the mortgage.

If you wish to continue to pay your half of the mortgage you will, as discussed continue to recieve 50% of the increase in value until you are removed from the mortgage completely.

Either way suits me.

If I choose to have someone living with me for a few months, and they just contribute to bills, (which i am happy and able to prove), there is no rental income I need to declare."

Trollfever

as a gift to us

Speak to a solicitor to protect your interest in the property.

surreybased

Hi,

Definitely get advice. Firstly you can't lock in the property value unless you actually sell it. No matter who values it it isn't real until someone actually offers to buy it at that price.

I doubt you have made money in the last 6 months, certainly if you take buying costs into account. If you remain finanically linked to your ex you will remain linked..no question. I also think you will be a hostage to her fortunes..when can she remortgage, is she expecting a major increase in her salary? if not it will be years away or is she waiting to meet a new partner?
A clean break is the best solution.If not then I think selling is the best option. With regard to the equity - my view is if her father provided the deposit then it would be fair for that to be returned. Legally she probadly doesn't have a right for it to be returned but if I was in your situation I would return it. How did you contribute to the deposit or buying costs?

Selling price - buying costs, less mortgage owed, less deposit from father = remainer divided by 50%. If it results in a loss then 50% would also go to you.

Good Luck - let us know how you get on

pcairns98

yes, i did contribute to the deposit, but the gift from her father was initially going to be for a honey-moon but as the house came first he gave it to us for that. she is saying that she is intitled to roughly 70% of the deposit, obviouisly leaving me with not a great deal despite having put a lot into the property. She has been looking at the index value of the property and according to that it has gone up in value, but i see what you are saying regarding fees and future costs.
thanks for the advice
p