Thinking of going Bankrupt to get out of my house... :sad:

forum_newbie_2

Our house is in negative equity by £20,000, and we have about £12,000 debt on top of that. We constantly battle to pay our bills, and struggle doing even our basic food shopping. More than once we have been left with no gas or electric because we simply dont have the money to put on the meter. As well as our money problems we really don't like where we are living due to a number of issues, but with our financial situation and negative equity it seems impossible that we will ever be able to move. Worst of all we are on shared ownership, so even if we stick it out by the end of our mortgage we will only own 44% of our property.

My wife is suffering from a debilitating thyroid condition, and recently has had to stop working, which has made things worse. Because i work away i spend a lot of time away from home, and she is finding it difficult to cope.

Our plan is to walk away, privately rent for less than we are paying now and live comfortably away from this neighbourhood and out of our mortgage. Unfortunately this seems like a pipe dream, and will more realistically end with myself and family with nowhere to live and no hope for the future.

I cant see any other way out of our situation. Any ideas or feedback would be very appreciated! :S

tigerfeet2006

Hi and Welcome, The first step make a list of all your creditors, debts and assets. Secondly and most important is contact one of the following debt charities. Please try these they don't charge and are impartial. They will go through all your options with you and if they suggest bankruptcy then come back to this board and we will help you all we can. Also if your not ‘clicking’ with one of the Debt charities do try another.

Please don’t do anything rash take your time and weigh up your options and read everything you can x

For ‘essential’ BR info this is Fermi’s sticky - Click here

Main recommended sources of help:

• National Debtline - Website: National Debtline Telephone: 0808 808 4000
• Citizens Advice Bureau - Website: Citizens Advice or visit your local CAB centre (find nearest)
• Consumer Credit Counselling Service - Website: CCCS Telephone: 0800 138 1111

Others:

• Business Debtline - Website: Business Debtline Telephone: 0800 197 6026
• Christians Against Poverty
• PayPlan
• TaxAid - Help with tax debts.

And do remember we’ve all been through this and anything you don’t understand don’t be afraid to ask.

If you decide you want to rent then stop paying your mortgage and debts and save the money for your rent, deposit, moving fees and BR fees if you are going down that route.

Best wishes
TF...x

Maizy

Welcome

And as advised, please take the appropriate advice providing all necessary information before making a decision. The debt charities will point you in the right direction and offer possible solutions.

I was in the exact boat you are in, not only with £25k plus negative equity, but other issues with the house and my only option for a stress free life was to get rid although it has taken me a year to finally take the plunge. Now renting and awaiting repossession and saving for BR. I know how tough this is and its not an easy option but being halfway there myself, I can see there is hope and a future rather than feeling trapped and saddled with a life time of debt and pay back.

Do what feels right, life is too short if debt makes it unbearable but again I stress take the right advice first so you can see a clearer picture. Good luck.

forum_newbie_2

Thank you for the replies. Sorry I haven't replied sooner. We have taken our first step and sorted ourselves out with private rented accommodation. I do worry that in the future we will be evicted if we go through BR but for now one step at a time I think. We have set up a joint co-op account and spoken with CCCS who agreed our best option will be BR after walking away from the property. We are now about to stop paying our mortgage and rent but I try to cancel the DD on my internet banking then click off the page because I am finding it hard to bring myself to do it but could no way afford to pay this and the new rent. I feel such a mixture of relief and anxiousness.

AMILLIONDOLLARS

Are you and your wife claiming all the benefits you are entitled to you. This may help with your situation.

AMD

Ineedaname

I would suggest setting up separate BR friendly bank accounts, even though you are both going BR. The reason being that you can rebuild your financial lives separately and neither's credit records will directly affect the other once BR has dropped off your files.

Just thinking that if one of you tries for even a sim only mobile deal (for instance) post BR it may be rejected on the basis of having a financial connection to another BR person... double whammy if you like.

Other than that, good for you sorting out the rental. Do hit that button to cancel the mortgage DD, there's no point you throwing money at it when you aren't keeping the house anyway and won't be living there!

Regarding when you move out of the mortgaged house, have a read of these threads to make sure you are well and truly sorted:

If's post #3 here
Leesmom's thread about council tax exemption

tigerfeet2006

Also get meter readings of all utilities and photo them if possible with a date stamP. Get the utility companies to turn them off and disconnect them as well.

Ineedaname

That's the information in If's post TF.:D

forum_newbie_2

Thanks all for responding. (this is the wife by the way..) I never even thought about going for single accounts to stop association. I will sort that out tomorrow so thank you Nor did I even think about disconnecting utilities. We're not as prepared as we thought it seems The housing association are trying to buy the house back as soon as possible and have told us not to send anything to our mortgage lender. If they buy back successfully will we still be responsible for paying tax etc?

Thanks all, this forum is a life saver

Ineedaname

Once the HA have purchased the house from you then they will be the legal owners and you will have no further responsibility regarding the house.

Still worth getting utilities disconnected though if you think the house will remain empty for a while after you've left.

tigerfeet2006

Ineedaname wrote: »

That's the information in If's post TF.:D

Both Ifwishes and I use that welcome letter, we are just tweaking it and coming up with a new one. Any one is welcome to use it as it gives all the info that is needed to get a newbie started.