Want to be removed from mortgage but brother unwilling

Sinede

My daughter's husband to be has a house which he bought with his brother 5 years ago. He has been living with my daughter now for several months although is still paying half the mortgage on the house which he bought with his brother. He's been trying to get his brother to put it on the market or take him off the mortgage as he obviously doesn't need to have a house with my daughter and his brother. His brother seems unwilling to do anything so my daughter and her boyfriend at tearing their hair out as they don't know what to do. The brother says he can't afford to keep it on himself. Any ideas, anybody, PLEASE.

Sinede

Thanks, I know where you're coming from about him being forced. I know it may sound unreasonable but he has done all sorts of stuff that it would take too long to go into - for example moving a friend into one of the bedrooms, who never cleaned, never washed and made the house absolutely stink. When he eventually left my daughter and her boyfriend went and redecorated whilst he didn't lift a finger to help - only to complain that they hadn't taken the radiators off to paint! The house is now a complete pigsty again and he's the only one living in it. They've tried to persuade him that they ought to sell so that he could buy a smaller property as he really doesn't need 3 bedrooms and my daughters boyfriend is willing to walk away with nothing.

terryw

I would add that solicitor's fees are never cheap particularly when an asset of value is involved, and any sort of agreement is probably much better than going to solicitors to argue the toss.

CloudCuckooLand

If it was an investment, that neither lived in, it would probably be less complicated.

Having half his mortgage paid for, is not going to make the brother willing to give up easily.

Time to start charging him half-a-rent, methinks.

See if he wakes up to reality.

Fang_3

CloudCuckooLand wrote: »

If it was an investment, that neither lived in, it would probably be less complicated.

Having half his mortgage paid for, is not going to make the brother willing to give up easily.

Time to start charging him half-a-rent, methinks.

See if he wakes up to reality.

How would they do that? There's no legal basis at all. The two brothers bought a house together over an agreed term and one is now trying to back out. The other doesn't have to let him.

Cannon_Fodder

Sinede wrote: »

He has been living with my daughter now for several months although is still paying half the mortgage on the house which he bought with his brother.

CloudCuckooLand wrote: »

If it was an investment, that neither lived in, it would probably be less complicated.
Having half his mortgage paid for, is not going to make the brother willing to give up easily.
Time to start charging him half-a-rent, methinks.
See if he wakes up to reality.

Fang wrote: »

How would they do that?

I agree with Cloudcuckooland...

From the OP's quote above, it appears that the brothers were living together. So paying each half of the mortgage was for their own half of the accommodation. Fair enough.

Ideally, lodgers would fill the shortfall, now the first brother has moved out.

But if the other brother is keeping the place like a pigsty, then its hardly going to be able to attract lodgers.

If that brother it doing this to have a whole house to himself, then he should pay 'rent' for the empty half.

At least as a tactic to try and get him to see sense.

It might not be entirely fair, as I realise its the first brother getting 'hooked up' that started the problem. But the pigsty bit is not acceptable, for either of their investments.

As the OP says, "the brother says he can't afford to keep it on himself" - what does the brother think is going to happen - the banker fairies will pay for half a house indefinitely ?

Fang wrote: »

The two brothers bought a house together over an agreed term and one is now trying to back out.

Where do you see "agreed term" in the OP's posts ??

We don't know what arrangement they agreed to, when buying the place. Whether there was a trust/timescale, or more likely, like so many of these family arrangements a blindly optimistic, "oh it will be alright, we get on, we will come to an amicable agreement when we need to"...

If joint tenants, they can force a sale. Though there will be legal costs. If they have nothing in writing about how to approach changes in circumstances, then its probably the only option, in the absence of common sense compromise.

Person_one

If he truly can't afford it on his own then the lender won't let him take it on on his own anyway.

Does the brother have a friend or another family member who might want to take on half the house?

Is there equity? Would they make any profit if they sold?