Joint Morgage; ex not paying

smellyfeet

Frivolous_Fay;

the reason i have put Car, Lap etc.. is becuase in the contract we signed these were the main items that was mentioned as they were of value;

the solicitor is now demanding that the flat should be split 50/50; that's not what we agreed at the start which is why the ex recieved money and the car etc...i could not take the ex's name of the mortgage at the time as the Mortgage would not allow us but she said if she recieved this stuff it would be fair, i would still owe her some money which i agreed but not 50/50 of the equity,

now the solicitor is saying she wants half the flat which is why i am saying i want half of everything she recieved plus half the payments towards the flat that have been made since we seperated.

thanks for your comments.

smellyfeet

thanks Imelda

smellyfeet

I will try and grab time to fill it with false names and false amounts,

does anyone know about freezing the equity, i heard about this somewhere; i'm worried that if i don't get anywhere at least then she will not be gaining more, also who would decide what the property is worth?

worst case scenerio do you think i might have to pay as her name is on the mortgage then take her to a small claims court?

smellyfeet

I was going to send a copie of the contract we signed but nothing else, i can prove the rest but thought i would see what there response would be after recieing the letter, through the ball bakc in there court first.

lewt

i thinnk you need to stay on this site mate, look arounf the forum and the CC section 15.9% is loads try tarting. (jumping from one 0% to anther)

your in the right place for money matters though...

dont tell ******* about it though

smellyfeet

Lewt,

I have tried getting anouther credit card so i could transfere the balance to 0% but i was declined,

If i apply for lots that will affect my credit rating won't it?

welshcakes

smellyfeet, quite a difficult post to respond to as it's only a slice of ongoing correspondence however on the basis of it I would firstly say that your ex is obviously under advise from a family solicitor and it is likely that they have pointed out to her that she can legally challenge any agreement (even one that you both wrote and signed) on the basis that it does not constitute a legally binding settlement; various reasons foe this one of the most popular defences being that it was signed under duress (and possibly not witnessed?).

Until a full draft Heads of Agreement or Consent Order is exchanged between parties there is considerable room for renegotiation or retraction of content. After such time, movement is restricted.

I take it the mortgage lender is aware that you have split (as you unsucessfully applied to have mortgage transferred into your sole name). Not sure why the mrtage company refused the transfer unless 1) you applied for a remortage or 2) they felt with negative equity they are unwilling to release your ex as there is more chance of recovering the deficit from two people rather than one. Can I ask why, when the mortgage comapny state there is negative equity, you would want to take on the property in your sole name. Surely if the true picture is that the market value falls short of the mortgage amount you may be better allowing voluntary repossession?

As far as individual items are concerned, the courts tend to disregard items of value under £500/ Don't know value of the car however it is likely your ex's solicitor will argue that since ex is main carer for the child it is reasonable that she should have transport for the child's needs. The same would go for the camcorder in as much as she could argue it was purchased and used mainly as a means of a video diary of child growing up. If the child is of school age, the laptop could be considered benefical to child's education on same grounds - I am not saying it is true or fair however tehse are the reasoned grounds upon which her case may argued if it went to court.

What is the position with regards to resolving the issue with the Management company - are you looking to sell so you can move to a place with two bedrooms and if so how would you finance the new residence.

With regards to currently sharing sleeping arrangements, I would say that the family courts(and Cafcass) are in general uncomfortable with any situation where a parent and child are sharing a bed however they do not have problems with two beds in one room (as long as parent and child are of same sex). Furthermore, they don't frown on a child sleeping ona put-u-up/sofa bed in lounge.

As far as CSA is conserned, maintenance is seen wholly as a separate matter to settling of the ancillary (money) matters in a divorce - it is likely to be assessed at 15% of your net income (after they have calculated your protected basic living amount). In my opinion, you won't get far trying to enter in 'negotiations' with the CSA as they do not get involved in other financial matters as most of their cases are linked to separation/divorce and these problems are outside of their remit. They won't trade off maintenance for an agreement you previously made with the other parent for other £ matters as the maintenance is solely seen as being for the ongoing upkeep of the child.

As you probably know, all joint liabilities remain joint until they are paid off or transferred so however much mortgage etc you pay off, you will remain liable for 50% ofthe decreasing balance. Is it possible you can take a payment holiday in view of the property currently being on the market?

I know none of the above is positive for your outlook however this is so often the case once divorce solicitors get involved - much of the progress an ex couple has previously made, get thrown out of the window (it is bad business sense for solicitors to make it quick and easy for the parties even though they are supposed to according to the Code of Practise set down by the Law Society).

I am all for self-repping where a person has a sound working knowledge of family law etc however I think that you would benefit from legal assistance. It is possible to employ a solicitor to work in an advisory (not representative) capacity only and this keeps the costs down. Check to see whether you are entitled to Legal Aid - there is an instant onlice calculator on the LSC website.

If it looks like your ex is going to start chopping and changing contact, apply for a contact order immediately. There is a one off fee and if you are on benefits, it is free. You do not need a solicitor for contact issues or a sophisticated knowledge of the law though many people find it less pressure to put it in the hands of a legal representative.

smellyfeet

Welshcakes; that is the most useful advise i have recieved, it has answered and given me more questions,

when we first negiotiated the agreement we added up the equity in the flat and the debts that are owed on credit cards and loans, trouble is most of the debts where in my name (we were together, she could not get good credit so everything was done through me, debts were accured/spent jointly), at the time we agreed that as we incurred the debts jointly they would be split 50/50; we did this by using the equity in the flat even though we could not get to it. we also had some money which i gave her but it worked out i still owed her based on the flat was now mine even though her name was on it,

am i screwed? have i been left with debts and no way of making her pay them, i was happy to have them based on the property being mine, but now she is after the property to get more money.

i took on the property as i could afford to pay the morgage and thought when it does sell i would take the equity and pay off debts, i knew she would not pay half the mortgage and felt this would be best to keep my credit rating as good as possible

the morgage company value the property as less but the estate agents all think its worth more, i did at one point gain a sale but this fell through when it was discovered there is a problem with the management, the problem with the management could take years to resolve,

In regards to my boy i have offered to get extra bed, sleep in the front room etc... she just says no, she wants more money really, she has said this.

i am worried that if i apply for a contact order the amount of time i current see my boy might get redueced out of spite, i am hoping to get this money issue resolved and then things might settle down, i feel she is getting advise and she wants more money so is changing the agreement.

welshcakes

Something you seem to know deep down is that regardless of what was agreed in private/better times between the two of you, legally if the debts are in your name they are yours. There are sometimes mitigating circumstances where for example, you can show definitive proof that large items were purchased for the benefit of your ex which you would not have otherwise bought eg a valuable piece of jewellery, a trip that she took to see friends etc. By default, she has no liability for the debts in your name and only a court could order her to pay/contribute (and if she pleads poverty this could be at £1 a month).
In general, loans for things like furniture, holidays etc are considered as purchases that were jointly enoyed and used and therefore will not be considered.

The mortgage company WILL in general value the flat at less than the market value as their definition of value is different to what it's worth on the OPen Market. Theirs is the amount of mortgage loan that the flat warrants which is why they use their own surveyor to view the property and not local estate agents.

I bought out my ex from the family home which he had completely destroyed ( and thus devalued). I got an appointment with my mortgage lender branch and had an increase in the mortgage based on 1) a sum needed to buy out x and 2) to refurbish the property in preparation of sale. Refurbishment should be something that will definitely push up price such as a new kitchen or bathroom suite.

Mortgage company surveyors then look at the property and report back to the mortgage company stating what it's worth now and what it would be worth after refurbishment. In my case, I had friends carry out the work so was able to dramatically increase the value for a lot less than the going labour rates. Is this an option for you?

No Management company issue should take a few years so you need to get this addressed straight away. I would strongly recommend you post a separate question soley to do with that issue on the Property Board - lots of landlords and tenants on there can hopefully give you positive advise of how to resolve quicker than you think.

WIth regard to your son (and this is the most important issue), is she refusing overnight stay at present and if so what contact do you currently have if you are working fulltime? WHat is the age of your son?

smellyfeet

With my son, it was at first agreed that i would have him stay over 7 nights a week, currently it is every other Fri, Sat and Sun and every Wed which is why i don't want to push this as this is still alot, i think she could drop this back to less if she wanted to and there would be nothing i could do.

the management issue - a new contract needs to be sent out to 18 properties for the owners to sign, it will not be resolved untill all 18 have signed, some might just be funny and decide not to sign and some live abroad as they rent, thus why it will take a while.

do you know anything about a form which means if she does not pay half the mortgage any equity gained in the property from when the form issued she can not gain and i can also claim back her half of the interest on the mortgage payments (not all her half of the mortgage payment)?

wouldn't i want the property to be valued less thus she would not gain as much equity then when the property does sell i would gain more?

who deicedes what the property is worth for this form?