26 years and counting..... 27 January 2011 at 3:49PM in Mortgage-free wannabe 10 replies 1.1K views

javelin_sam

Hi all

I have recently bought the beneficial interest in the property i live in with my Girlfriend from the Official Receiver who was dealing with my GF's ex husband who went bankrupt leaving her with the full responsibility for the mortgage and unsecured loan.

His name is still on the legal title and the mortgage although he has no financial responsibility for the debts anymore. We are currently trying to get him to sign this over to me but its like getting blood from a stone...

As i have his half of the beneficial interest it is now in my interest to get the debt paid off so that i can eventually realise any future profits from the house.

the mortgage is a lovely....wait for it.. you know it's coming.... Together mortgage from the ever so helpfull NRAM.

The balance is around £157k split as £129k mortgage and £28k loan.

It is currently on interest only on the mortgage and repayment on the loan

The house is valued at £125k - £130k

The debt has got 26years 0 months to run.....

What i want to do is get that loan paid off sooner than 26 years and hope that the market picks up enough to pay off the mortgage and give us some capital back.

at the height of the boom the house was valued at £150 - £155k in an area which has improved a lot since. Her lovely EX turned down an offer of £151k because he didn't want to be saddled with more debts (on top of his own personal debts).

Payments on the mortgage are currently £670 a month of which roughly £500 is the interest only mortgage payment and the remainder is the payment for the USL.

We can realistically over pay by £200 - £300 a month and want to get started on this ASAP before the interest rates start flying through the roof

oh BTW we are now on the SVR of 4.78% so you can imagine how worried for the future months I am and why i want to get cracking on the loan ASAP!!!

32kickstart

hi, if the ex is still on the title and mortgage, wouldn't he then be able to claim half the money when you do eventually sell??

javelin_sam

no because as part of his bankruptcy he had to hand over his 50% beneficial interest for the OR to sell on... which i bought for £1 plus costs of £211.

this entitles me to 50% of any future monies from the sale or rental of the house, it also gives me the right to live there. all he has is his name on the legal title held at land registry. his name on the mortgage is irrelevant (but annoying) because he is not financially responsible for the debts anymore.

SmlSave

Welcome to MFW Jsam and good luck with your journey.

Good luck with getting the GF's ex off the Title, I take it he's just being difficult

originalmiscellany

Sounds like you've got a grand big picture and some steady targets on how to get there. With that attitude, I'm sure you'll do well. As you said, shifting off that nasty SVR need to be done as a priority...

Keep us updated as to how you're doing by regular posts please!

javelin_sam

I don't know about him being difficult just thick. He won't understand what is being asked of him and will probably just be throwing the letters away. He isn't the sharpest tool in the box. We haven't spoken to him in over 2 years since he moved out of the house. He had totally trashed it. I spent a lot of my time and money doing the place up so we could sell it but there weren't any serious buyers. We ended up renting it out for a year before deciding that we should move in ourselves. We have been in since October and have made so many changes to the place its hardly recognisable.

Mallotum_X

So you agreed to take on a 50% share of a debt of 157k on a house worth £125k...

Am i the only one who thinks why...? Thats just nuts, you talk about making profits yet have just agreed to a loss of 32k (16k your share)

javelin_sam

I understand what you are saying and without looking at all the facts it is easier to be confused by my descision.

With any house purchase there is a debt, be it just mortgage or mortgage and set up costs.

I was a first time buyer and we were trying to save for a deposit on a new house. problem is that the house she already owned was in such huge debt that if we sold it there would have been the full debt coming to her anyway.

as the mortgage is a together mortgage the interest rate on the USL part was going to jump 8% to 12.78% variable which would have made repayments high and stiffled our attempts at getting a mortgage together.

We are both 29 and since the split from her ex she was back living with her parents in a small room and i was living with mine too.

we put a lot of thought into what we did and it became the best solution. at the end of the day there is only £157k to pay off unlike my best mate who bought a smaller house just before the crash and has got £175k to pay off...

we expect it to be our home for the next 5 - 10 years and hope in this time for the market to have made some repairs.....

javelin_sam

had a bit of a result on friday. a letter from the solicitor which contained the documents for me to finalise the transfer of beneficial interest came through (finally) and they also told me that my OH's ex had been in contact to arrange for new documents to be sent to him so he can sign over the legal title... he had apparently lost the others.. hmmmm

alex_p

Good luck dude! Sounds like you've got a bit of a challenge on your hands!

Pisces

Wow, well done you, sounds like a sensible (but painful decision) and I wish you the very best of luck.

I think if it was me I would've rented it forever and tried to forget about it, so I admire you for sticking with it.

Let us know how you get on, I'll be reading with interest.