Can We Take Over A Mortgage?

Gordie1975

Hi there, i would like some advice on this please.
My mother and father in law got a mortgage on her council house about 10 years ago, she got it for £8000, they are useless with money, and has now remortgaged twice, and (i'm told) now owe £50000 to it and are paying "interest only" and have 4 years to pay it off.

My mother and father in law say they dont want to buy and would rather get rid of the house and get a bungalow from the council, one is 62 and the other 59, so they cant manage the stairs anymore either.

Anyway, they have told my girlfriend they want us to takeover the mortgage, then they would move out and get a council house and we would take over payment of the mortgage, the mortgage was around £100 cheaper than our current rent (obviously they are paying less now they only pay interest) is.

I dont know what to do, i have around £4000 debt, so have no deposit, and a "fair to good" credit rating, so not that good a credit score.

It all sounds a bit dodgy to me..i mean i trust my in-laws, i just dont trust their financial ability.

My girlfriend is in tears at the thought at losing her childhood home as well.

The house is probably worth around £50000 - £70000, well the houses around are worth that.

I just dont know, has anyone any objective advice please

Tiddlywinks

You can't just "take over" a mortgage. A contract was signed by your parents in law and the loan was provided by the lender and secured on the property. It is legally binding between those parties and any transfer of ownership would mean that the loan would be repayable immediately.

Your GF may well be upset but she needs to understand that her parents have overspent and that is why they are now in that position - not great that they expect the council to sort them out either; particularly as they have withdrawn huge amounts of equity by continuing to remortgage their heavily discounted ex-council home over the years. What did they spend the money on?

They need to seek financial advice but I can't see you being able to step in with your situation as it is.

ruggedtoast

You can pay the mortgage for them if you want, otherwise no, they cant just hand over the mortgage because they dont want the responsibility any more.

"one is 62 and the other 59, so they cant manage the stairs anymore either."

Um, not only are there many people their age who are still working, many of those peoples jobs involve going up and down stairs.

Their only hope of being rehomed by the council is if they stay where they are until they are repossessed. That would be their best option if they cant pay, it would destroy their credit rating but it doesnt sound like that would matter much to them.

MrMichael

Where did the £42,000 they borrowed against the house go?
Even they must have realised they would have to pay that money back one day.

Before you make any decision you should really investigate if they are eligible for another council house.

Werdnal

Its not easy just to move out and get a council house. Many local authorities are very tight on their criteria for rehoming people, even those who consider themselves in need of a bungalow in their older years. As homeowners (even though they are stuggling), they will be very low on the council's priorities.

Sadly, as mentioned above, their only chance of being re-homed would be to wait it out and allow repossession, but then they would likely have no choice where the new house/bungalow would be - they would likely only be offered a 1 bed property, possibly even a flat, and could be miles away from where they live now. And in the interim period, they could even be forced into emergency accommodation - 1 bedroom in a B&B is quite normal these days!

Gordie1975

Thank you all, yes it is as i thought we are better off out of it.

We will save up a deposit and buy somewhere else, they will need to just lose the house.

Than you!!!:D

Running_Horse

Run like the wind Bullseye!

They are adults and have made their bed.

Don't let people like that drag you down.

Gordie1975

ruggedtoast wrote: »

"one is 62 and the other 59, so they cant manage the stairs anymore either."

Um, not only are there many people their age who are still working, many of those peoples jobs involve going up and down stairs.

Um, i never posted every last intimate detail in my post, you are presuming a lot here.
Suffice to say father in law is awaiting double hip replacement and cant walk and mother in law earns next to nothing in the part time job she has, and suffers depression and gets regular panic attacks.

I aint going to argue with you on wether you think they should be zipping up stairs or not, I'm telling you they cant, that should be all the info you need.
Thanks for the input.


Is it just me or has this forum become more "hostile" over the last year?:(

myhouse_2

Gordie1975 wrote: »

Is it just me or has this forum become more "hostile" over the last year?:(

It's not hostility - someone has read your post, apparently hasn't understood the point of it and has posted an irrelevant fact for no apparent reason. Possibly to get their post number statistics up.

ruggedtoast

You specifically stated that your parents in law were unable to manage stairs due to their age, which is not especially advanced relatively speaking. If they have other health problems affecting their situation you should have said so.

You haven't painted a particularly sympathetic portrayal of them.

izzzzythedog

if they make themselves intentionally homeless they arnt going to be housed , chances are they will find themselves homeless and living back at the house your now paying for sharing with you :eek:

they could sell the house to you , by the sound of it that would mean they would owe thousands still , if its interest only then they will need to find that 50 g in a few years anyway so it sound like either way they are dammed , id keep out of it if i were you