Tracker Mortgage/Neg Eq?

bounce11

Hi all. Pretty dire situation at the moment with a gambling addiction/debt problems but this is another facet I'm dealing with....

Separated from my ex-partner a while ago and we have a joint mortgage together. I live in the property and she doesn't pay anything towards the mortgage (and hasn't done for over a year). We bought at the height of the market with no deposit and a mortgage over 35 years (mistake I know, but hindsight is great).

The mortgage is a tracker mortgage so is very cheap at the moment. I am living by the skin of my teeth and have already missed several mortgage payments due to gambling/debt problems. But that's not why I'm creating this thread.

The house is in negative equity (it was worth about £150,000 which is what our mortgage is for) but is now worth around £125,000 or less. We had no deposit and I have no savings. I have no spare money to make any overpayments.

Basically, if the rates go up at all I won't be able to afford it - my ex paid half of everything before so we had a bit of a fall back.

I have spoken to my bank - they won't let me remortgage in my own name as the affordability was done for the two of us. They won't allow me to switch a fixed rate as they won't let me remortgage full stop for affordability. Even if they would let me switch, it's unlikely I'd be able to afford a fixed rate anyway! They won't let me take my ex's name off the mortgage despite her writing letters etc due to affordability! No other lender will let me do any of the above for the same reason and because my credit rating is very bad.

I don't know what to do? I am behind on my mortgage and trying to pay it back, but if the rates go up (which they will) I won't be able to afford it. I can't sell it at a lower price as they last thing I need is more debt! I have nearly 30k unsecured debt.

Advice?

Morgage_Confused

Rent out a room to a lodger.

Old_Git

you need more income .A second job ,take in a lodger .
You also need to protect your interest in the property as your ex is not paying .

bounce11

Morgage_Confused wrote: »

Rent out a room to a lodger.

I can't, I only have 1 bedroom. I can't rent the place out as a whole either as to be competitive I would have to charge less than what I pay on my mortgage and won't be able to rent anywhere else at the same time.

bounce11

Old_Git wrote: »

you need more income .A second job ,take in a lodger .
You also need to protect your interest in the property as your ex is not paying .

How can I protect my interest? I have spoken with a solicitor that says he could write something up but my ex won't sign it and my bank says that it would be worthless as the mortgage was signed before and has both our names on it.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

if the mortgage noose is allready tight around your neck now with low interest rates, and you have allready missed payments, I think you need to take some porfessional advice or speak to CAB.

for now you need to look at ways of earning/making extra money to keep you afloat.

Maybe if you post or soa peeps can see if there are any savings for you.

Good luck.... I know this might offend some people, but at the end of the day... its only bricks and mortar... and your health and sanity is more important than tryinging to keep the house.

bounce11

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

if the mortgage noose is allready tight around your neck now with low interest rates, and you have allready missed payments, I think you need to take some porfessional advice or speak to CAB.

for now you need to look at ways of earning/making extra money to keep you afloat.

Maybe if you post or soa peeps can see if there are any savings for you.

Good luck.... I know this might offend some people, but at the end of the day... its only bricks and mortar... and your health and sanity is more important than tryinging to keep the house.

I agree. I have tried the CAB before and didn't find them very helpful - they only gave me as much information as I could find on here or elsewhere on the web.

What are my options with the house? Is voluntary reposession something I should consider? Been trying to sell it for ages, no viewings at all. Can't afford to lower the price etc. Is it better to get out now or wait til it all goes wrong (inevitable in a year or two).

I'd like to stay in the house if possible, but if I can get out of this situation by leaving one way or another I will. I obviously don't want the mortgage company chasing me for mortgage payments if I do leave? Also got to consider that my ex is still on the mortgage and what problems that will cause.

Lois_E

If the help you got from the CAB wasn't sufficient for your situation, then you need other professional help. Have you tried one of the non-profit debt advice organisations? If you get an appointment with one of their people, they will go through everything with you and advise you on your options from here.

Have you found any help with your gambling addiction? You sound as though it's not something you are going to be able to get free of on your own - addictions are usually like that. But you can get free if you let people who care walk through it with you, and help you work out what drives you to do it and how to find other ways of satisfying that need, whatever it is.

Sorry I can't be more help.
Good luck.

miss_duke

Hi, I was also going to suggest getting help with your gambling.

I know there must seem like theres no way out at the monet, but honestly with the right help you can get out of this situation. Surely your ex is just as liable if her names on the mortgage? Doesn't seem fair you are having to go through this alone.

Sepa74

What a difficult situation for you! Congratulations on being proactive about doing something about it, though. As they say, the first step is admitting the problem, and the second step is deciding to do something about it.

I agree that you need more specialist advice than we can offer here. The Debt Free Wannabe board may be able to point in you in the right direction. I am sure many of the people on that board are in or have been in a situation as bad as yours, and they are just as supportive as here... I promise!!

Good luck. I really hope you work through the issues you're facing, particularly the gambling, as that seems to be at the root of many of your problems. Let us know how you get on.

Sepa.