Being Forced to Sell

g0009348

Hi, me and my partner have split up and she wants to buy the house from me and keeps threatening to go to the solicitors if I do not accept her offer. We used some of my parents money to top up our deposit and she is claiming, after advice from her solicitors, that is was a gift not a loan. Unfortunately I never got any paperwork drawn up to detail this either way, only bank statements can prove we have been paying it back. The funny thing is up until she spoke to her solicitors she never once denied it was a loan.....

She has offered to pay me back all of my deposit plus half of what my parents gave us to buy me out of the house. I think that this is not enough as it would leave approx 7 grand in the house which is not hers. She says if she goes through her solicitors she could easily end up giving me nothing (dont belive this) My question is, if I called her bluff and said ok then let the solictors sort it out, could I be forced to sell to her or would a court decide that is best to sell the house to somebody else. She has already agreed that if we sell the house the money to my parents gets paid off first and then the remained gets split 50/50 which is the scenario i prefer.

Whirlee

It really depends: are you married, how long have you lived together, how much have you each contributed in terms of mortgage payments/house improvements, do you have children, what evidence is there of each of your contributions. I'm sure an expert would have even more questions.

Personally I would want to go and see a family law solicitor.

hazyjo

Would she actually be able to get a mortgage on her salary alone? That's probably the most important point.

Is the house worth less than you paid for it? When did you buy?

Horrible situation, I know. When I sold my first flat with an ex, my parents had given us a few grand. Ended up in slight negative equity, and the money was just eaten up anyway. The gift was to us both, so I didn't really think I had a leg to stand on claiming any off him. We just about broke even once we sold, so I would have had to chase him personally for any money - which he didn't have.

When you took out the mortgage, did you have to declare the money was a loan? Did you say it was a gifted deposit? Didn't your parents have to say it came from them? Suppose it depends on the year...

Jx

AMILLIONDOLLARS

Please consult with your own solicitors. If you have proof that you were paying the money back to your parents, monthly direct debits into their account, then she can't claim it was a gift! I would call her bluff and say see you in court!!

AMD

g0009348

we are not married, and have no children and was living together for around a year. We have both paid 50/50 to all bills and mortgage payments since moving in. We had the house value last week and the average of all three gave us a value of roughly what we paid, however I have agreed to use the lowest value to negotiate a payment.

Thrugelmir

What would you hope to achieve by letting her take the matter to court?

RAS

g0009348 wrote: »

the average of all three gave us a value of roughly what we paid, however I have agreed to use the lowest value to negotiate a payment.

Why?

You really do need a good solicitor if that is the sort of deal that you negoitiate.

No wonder she thinks she can walk all over you.

Starting point; she provides evidence that she can get a mortgage for the full amount owing.

And you need to appoint a solicitor urgently. Becasue this sort of break up is really messy.

Why are you so worried about her going to use one?

g0009348

because I want it done and dusted, I am fed up of the nasty lies she is spouting all across facebook etc

also i dont want to risk losing my parents money

Tr1pp

Well im no expert but unless she contributed a significant amount more than you to any decorating etc then I don't see how she give you less than 50% of the remaining equity in the property (unless you agree to less)

In regards to the gifted deposit (I assume it definatley was labeled as a gift buy your mortgage lender as ours did the same) It really sucks.

I dont know much about the legalities but unless your solicitor put some formal paperwork in your contract regarding this then I dont know if you can legally stop her from getting half of that deposit if shes going to be a !!!!! about it. proof of repayment to your parents may help but then again it may not as this appears to be more of an informal agreement between you and them and not really legally binding, even if it can be argued then the deposit was technically a gift to you both as far as the mortgage paperwork is concerned.

best of look to you though.

Thrugelmir

g0009348 wrote: »

because I want it done and dusted, I am fed up of the nasty lies she is spouting all across facebook etc

Realise you are stressed. Going to court isn't the solution.

As it may well cost you more. Judges hate having their time wasted over petty squabbles. Costs do get awarded.

If nothings in writing. Then your defence is non-existant I'm afraid to say.

So anything above a 50/50 split of equity is worth taking.

Tr1pp

RAS wrote: »

Why?

You really do need a good solicitor if that is the sort of deal that you negoitiate.

No wonder she thinks she can walk all over you.

Starting point; she provides evidence that she can get a mortgage for the full amount owing.

And you need to appoint a solicitor urgently. Becasue this sort of break up is really messy.

Why are you so worried about her going to use one?

I have to agree here, why would you agree to the lowest, it sounds like you will not get anything out of this and may even be out of pocket where as she will have a house (if she can afford the mortgage) even if it were in negative equity it still seems she is getting a better deal.

I would hold onto your half and not let go unless she agrees to pay you a preferential price for your half or until she atleast agrees to pay back the full deposit AND 50% of remaining equity. why should she benefit from a house out of your parents deposit.