Advice? Ex, debt and mortgage :-/

Drysdale

Hi.

Have gone through a statement of affairs with CCCS - I have been having personal debt problems recently which have been compounded by my ex partner choosing to stop paying her half of our joint mortgage.

I am now having to pay her share. My priority debts/expenditure comes to approx £1300 (mortgage, car, tax, insurance, food, tv license). My income is circa £1900 take home leaving me with a surplus of around £600. The £600 is possibly going to be used in a debt management plan (I have unsecured debts of £26k - currently around £800 pcm monthly payments!)

My problem is that our mortgage is so low because of the base rate - as soon as it rises (which is inevitable) I will not be able to afford to pay much more and a debt management plan at the same time. I have discussed this with CCCS and have come to two options:

1. Stay in the flat, pay her mortgage payment and go on debt management plan and hope rates dont go up in the next year. If they do then I wont be able to afford mortgage payments and debt mamagement plan payments and would be looking at bankruptcy.

2. Stop making mortgage payments, use money to save for deposit on renting a place, house gets repossessed and sold for cheap, both me and ex get chased for the surplus and this becomes unsecured debt for both of us (in my situation would probably lead to bankruptcy)

Either way is not good. For the record, it is not feasible to rent a room out as it is a one bed studio flat and i have nowhere else to go. We have been trying to sell it for 18 months with 2 viewings! Cannot afford to price lower as 100% mortgage with negative equity. Estate agent thinks realistically wont b able to sell for another 18 months! Have it marketed with 5 agents!

Any advice??!!!

Drysdale

Additionally I am unable to remortgage as an individual and my credit rating is shot. Bank have refused to assist with mortgage repayments (they wont move to interest only or extend the term). It is currently a variable rate mortgage with woolwich.

chevalier

first off, you don't have £600 for debt repayment anyway, as you have nothing included for water, electric, gas, petrol, car insurance, mot etc. so you have to set a realistic budget for the DMP or else it will fail.

could you threaten your ex with small claims court if she won't pay. check with your mortgage provider about whether they can chase here for her share
good luck
chev

Drysdale

Thanks for being the only one to reply.

The £1300 of priority expenditure i included above includes all those things you have mentioned.

I have spoken to my bank and solicitord. The bank says I have no options as I am looking at a dmp with cccs. The solicitors say I cannot force here to pay as we are jointly and individually liable i.e as long as it is paid they dont care but if it is in arrears then both of us will be chased.

I just find it so frustrating that she can wash her hands of this commitment so easily and expect me to pay it all just because she cant be bothered to wait for it to sell.

Things would be so much easier if i had some security with repayments i.e a fixed rate but i am on a variable rate and cannot remortgage as my credit rating is rubbish and my
Bank wont help at all.

If I stay and make her payments too I could just about survive with the payments but as soon as the base rate goes up im stuck!

ms_london

Do you know why you have only had 2 viewings in that time? Has the estate agents given any suggestions, for example, improving the apartment? Can you lower the price slightly?

Plan your budget around paying the full mortgage repayment and associated costs, and if the rates do go up, surely you can renegotiate your DMP and take this into account? Also I am not sure what you need to do from a legal point of view if your ex has stopped making payments, but surely she would be entitled to a smaller % if you sell the place as she wouldn't have contributed as much?

Have you thought about renting your studio out and moving into somewhere else? Have a look at rental rates in your area, you might be able to rent it out at a rate that will cover your mortgage repayments and then some, just an idea.

xx

jayn_3

Can I make a suggestion?

Please fill in an SOA realistically, on one of the stickys and post it, let some people make suggestions where you may be able to save some money to reduce your debts. You may think you have cut your finances right down but I promise you you will be able to make savings with a bit of help

Whilst you are living alone are you claiming your single persons council tax reduction?

I'm surprised that CCCS has mentioned bankrupsy to you at such an early stage, especially if at the moment you really are in a position to pay £600 of the £800 of your unsecred credit payments each month-or have I misunderstood you, I would have thought from what you have the worst would be a DMP. Also I'm not sure why you would be incurring the cost of a solicitor for debt advice at this stage? Even if he is acting for you in another capacity he will charge you for his advice