Getting an unwilling ex's name off a mortgage. Advice please.

PeteHerts

Hello everyone.

I have a cousin who has got a joint mortgage but now her and her partner have split up and unfortunately her ex is now unwilling to have his name taken off the mortgage.

Could someone please advise on what she needs to do next.

Many thanks in advance.

Pete.

Person_one

Make him an offer he can't refuse?

How much equity is in the property and how much have they each paid in? Can she actually afford it on her own, according to the lender's criteria?

PeteHerts

Hiya and thanks for replying.

I think they paid around £240,000 this time last year and it's worth about £300,000 now alot of work has been done.
My cousin put in around £110,000 and the rest was mortgaged.
She cannot afford it on her own but it's a 5 bedroom place with 3 of the bedrooms spare so she may be looking at renting the rooms out to meet the mortgage whilst she's waiting to resolve this issue with her ex and then trying to sell.

Person_one

If she can't afford it on her own then I'm afraid the bank won't let him take his name off even if he wanted to. Most of them won't take income from lodgers into account as it isn't guaranteed.

They may have to sell up together, split the proceeds and start again. If she paid all the deposit was there a declaration of trust written up when they bought the place stating who would get how much in the event of a split?

PeteHerts

I think there was something in writing but I'm not sure what.
She wont be pleased with this news but then I think he's knows the score and is just turning the screws in revenge.

Person_one

If there was DoT protecting her deposit in the event of a split then she won't be too badly off.

Say it sells for 300K, she'll get her 110K back, the bank get their 130K back and they each get half of the 60K equity. So she walks away with 140K to put towards a new place and he gets 30K.(Less all fees etc of course which should be split 50/50)

If her deposit isn't protected, it can be trickier, and I would suggest talking to a solicitor, especially if he's being awkward.

PeteHerts

Thanks for your advice. I'll have a chat with her tomorrow.