Help Please.

shortbread

I recently moved in with my partner who is living in his mortgaged home he bought with his ex in 2007. She moved out of property in 2009 and has paid nothing towards mortgage or a joint 10k loan since. From the get go she wanted house sold as for some insane reason she thinks she is entitled to thousands. My partner does not want to lose house,he was the one who always paid the mortgage and has put a lot of effort into keeping the house in the last 2 years.

Since 2009 my partner has spent thousands on solicitors trying to get his ex to sign transfer of equity but to no avail. he even agreed to take on her half of the 5k debt from the loan for her to sign the contract and walk away. This was what she requested but even still her solicitor would just dilly dally and make stupid comments, thus creating more cost for my partner.

They bought the house for 146k and owe around 114k. The recent valuation is 130k. Unfortunately end of last year my partner lost his job due to the company he worked for going bust and funnily enough at this precise time his ex signed the transfer of equity knowing full well that he could now not afford a mortgage in his sole name. So after almost 18 months of trying to get her off the mortgage to free himself of this tie whilst he had the income to take on the mortgage she delayed any action to allow this to happen.

Now after no contact from her solicitor since Oct 2010 a letter came from a mediation company saying her solicitor has requested this to aid the sale of the property which she is now trying to force.

Thing is my partner does not want to sell the property as he loves the house and also myself and my son now live here and in effect we would be homeless. I know the easy solution would be sell the property but this is not something he wants to do willingly. Selling the house would mean they have lost 16k from original cost of house. Profit would be around 12k after costs etc and she would then have to take responsibility for her half of the 10k loan which she hasnt paid in 2 years but which my partner has.

I would like some advice if possible....

A. Would his ex partner be liable for any mortgage payments she has not paid? Two years worth and mortgage is up to date. If so would she owe them from any of her profit from sale?

B. Would a court actually see selling the house as a good thing to do?

This is driving my partner and myself insane it is such a worry as we would be homeless.

Any advice would be gratefully received. :T

sjc3

You would be very wise to speak with a solicitor or at least to someone from CAB with knowledge in this area.

Surely if the ex has signed away her half of the equity and you can prove she has never paid the mortgage then she has no claim to any proceeds from the sale of the house. Why then is her solicitor insisiting it is sold if mortgage payments are being met by your partner?

Was her name removed from the mortgage and put solely into your partners name? I hope someone will be along shortly who can give you more detailed advice. Didn't want to read and run.

shortbread

Really really need some advice and would like to thank anyone who has valid and accurate information or anyone who has been through similar.

shortbread

SJ...He has been seeing his solicitor since day 1...his solicitor has said she can force a sale through courts but is quite bemused by how silly his ex is being. Sadly because his ex didnt sign whilst my partner was working the mortgage was never transferred to just his name.....like I said, she delayed this and then did it when she knew he couldn't afford to take on the mortgage alone.

shortbread

Anyone......???

Gigglepig

I hope someone on the forum can answer your questions.

It is not strange that the ex wants the sale to go ahead now if she is concerned that the value of the property could drop further she may be in negative equity, and perhaps she'd like to get a mortgage for another house. It is also not strange if she wanted to delay things for some time, perhaps hoping that they would get back together again.

In my personal opinion I don't see why the ex would owe anything on the mortgage payments for the last two years if she did not live in the property, so I don't see why this should be discounted from her 1/2 of the profits. If the profits after a sale are 12k and she owes 5k on the other loan it sounds like she'd get 1k net. But this is just a "common sense" approach, other people may know what she is technically entitled to - presumably your OH's solicitor or the CAB can advice on what the legal position is.

Has your OH tried to speak to his ex just the two of them in a cafe or some other neutral ground, and shown her all the numbers and suggested some solutions? May be more efficient than all conversation going through solicitors, and they both benefit from smaller legal bills.

If it is no longer possible for your ex to have the whole mortgage in his name, can you take on 1/2 the mortgage? If you're living there with your son, it is only fair that you pay.

DaisyFlower

If he cant afford to take on the mortgage alone and buy her out, why cant you assist given you are living there?

shortbread

Gigglepig.... I wish things were as simple as your comments. It wasn't about concern over negative equity because they owe about 114k so no fear of that when she had opportunity to walk away back in 2009 not owing a penny to the 10k joint loan. She wanted it sold from get go because even though there has been 3 valuations for all around 130k she seems to think its worth 160k which is its original valuation back in 2007. They bought it for 146 k so at this point they have lost 16k were they to sell now. She doesnt want a mortgage, its all about the money. When she left the house she had a new man, so wasnt hoping to get back with my partner.

Ive heard from many people that to be entitled to her fair share....which we are not disputing...50/50 split is more than fair...then she should at least have contributed to the mortgage to entitle her to whatever profit there is .....and I would expect anyone to do this if they would want a fair payout. yes she would come away with about 1k......this is what solicitor has said.

As for speaking to her, she has had friends pump her full of how much cash she could get, how many benefits she would get, so its all money motivated malice....While my partner pays thousands in solicitors fees she is using public funds to delay this since 2009.....cant say thats very fair.

Daisy....Ofcourse its only fair that I pay......obviously I'm helping to pay the mortgage while Ive been there the last couple of months....but whilst hes not working its hard for him to get a mortgage for 114k.....so alas, as much as id like to help I dont earn 38k a year.....so NOT a great solution at the moment really. Like I said, when she left my partner was in his job of 10 years and earning more than enough to get the mortgage in his own name and she refused to do it because she was being spiteful........because if she wanted shot of the house and her 5k debt shed have signed over the instance he offered to get her off the mortgage.

Spite is a very sad and lonely friend to have....

Gigglepig

shortbread wrote: »

Gigglepig.... I wish things were as simple as your comments. It wasn't about concern over negative equity because they owe about 114k so no fear of that when she had opportunity to walk away back in 2009 not owing a penny to the 10k joint loan. She wanted it sold from get go because even though there has been 3 valuations for all around 130k she seems to think its worth 160k which is its original valuation back in 2007. They bought it for 146 k so at this point they have lost 16k were they to sell now. She doesnt want a mortgage, its all about the money. When she left the house she had a new man, so wasnt hoping to get back with my partner.

Ive heard from many people that to be entitled to her fair share....which we are not disputing...50/50 split is more than fair...then she should at least have contributed to the mortgage to entitle her to whatever profit there is .....and I would expect anyone to do this if they would want a fair payout. yes she would come away with about 1k......this is what solicitor has said.

As for speaking to her, she has had friends pump her full of how much cash she could get, how many benefits she would get, so its all money motivated malice....While my partner pays thousands in solicitors fees she is using public funds to delay this since 2009.....cant say thats very fair.

Daisy....Ofcourse its only fair that I pay......obviously I'm helping to pay the mortgage while Ive been there the last couple of months....but whilst hes not working its hard for him to get a mortgage for 114k.....so alas, as much as id like to help I dont earn 38k a year.....so NOT a great solution at the moment really. Like I said, when she left my partner was in his job of 10 years and earning more than enough to get the mortgage in his own name and she refused to do it because she was being spiteful........because if she wanted shot of the house and her 5k debt shed have signed over the instance he offered to get her off the mortgage.

Spite is a very sad and lonely friend to have....

I don't think it is necessarily malicious to want to have a 50% share, and from her point of view it could easily seem like the lower valuations are no good. She may have her own reasons for not being nice to you and your OH, sadly this is quite common after people break up.

If she was living in the property I don't see why she'd want to contribute towards the mortgage, she probably paid rent on the other place she is living.

If you or your OH are not able to take on her 1/2 of the mortgage then it sounds like you will need to move. You would not need a massive income in order to take on her 1/2. Sorry if that is harsh, but renting isn't the end of the world.

LittleMrsThrifty

OP - in an ideal world what would you like to happen?

If your OH and his ex bought the house together it's really only fair that they both get something out of it. The fact that your OH can't afford the mortgage on his own isn't really her problem.

Your OH has been paying all the mortgage for 2 years - but he has also been living there. How does the cost of the mortgage compare to what he'd pay if he were renting? A mortgage is, in effect, renting a house from the mortgage company. He'd have had to live somewhere after all.

The easiest solution would seem to be to take the current value of the house, less the mortgage owing to give the equity. Effectively use this amount to pay off the joint loan and then split the remaining figure 50/50. If your Oh is to buy her out and remove her from the mortgage this is what she should get. You could adjust slightly for the amount your OH has paid off the capital in the house (not the interest on the mortgage) if she agrees.

Alternatively sell up, pay the loan and fees then split the equity and start again.

Caroline_a

If I read one of your posts correctly then the ex has been getting legal aid for this. I'm fairly sure (although maybe someone can confirm) that when property is involved, legal aid has to be paid back from the proceeds, so she may end up with nothing! I would suggest that you go with any advice your solicitor gives you though - they will know more than us laypeople!