Joint mortgage crisis - how to get out??

anon02917

Hi All

Firstly excuse my starting a new thread straight away, I'm new to the forum but I'm desperate for some advice

I have entered into a joint mortgage with a partner [now ex], its a 5 year fixed term, with Santander

Things have gone belly up, long story short there has been a problem with violence, its been to Court, hes been charged and now I'm left in limbo.

I'm currently staying with parents but am being pressed to get out & find my own rented space. Its not possible for me to pay half of the mortgage and pay the full rent for somewhere else as well.

Going back to the house is not an option.

Does anyone have any experience with Santander? I hear bad things, that they are fairly ruthless... if I explain the situation to them do you think they would consider removing me from the mortgage or does it solely rely on him remortgaging on his own and having the finances to support his application?

If it depends 100% on the latter then I'm stuffed. Obviously I'm very limited in the contact I can/should have with him, but I know as much as he doesn't want to sell the house as he's too scared to lose money.

This can't drag on forever as my finances are really suffering, whats the best advice please?

Thanks in advance

kingstreet

He would need to approach the lender and request a transfer of equity. They would vet him to see if he could afford the mortgage alone. If they agree, you are removed from the mortgage in a process which is handled by a solicitor and is completed by your removal from both the mortgage and the deeds.

The cost of a TofE is between £400 and £600.

It needs the agreement of both parties and the lender to proceed.

Caz3121

You would probably be better with legal advice too.
Story with my ex was that I left and he paid nothing to the mortgage even though he was living there. The lender was not bothered about who paid, we were both liable for the whole amount. They will not release someone from the mortgage as this means they only have one person to chase rather than two. Ex didn't give 2 hoots about credit rating etc and I did so I ended up paying all the mortgage and my rent..with the help of loans from bank of mum and dad and overdraft.
I also had no contact and all correspondence was through lawyers, it took a long time and I eventually raised court papers to force the sale of the house. He then magically managed to come up with a mortgage to cover the existing mortgage and half equity.
If he will not play ball/or cannot afford to take on the mortgage ultimately the property will need to be sold so best to prepare yourself for a long battle (my ex trashed the house so when it was valued, still in a rising market, it had reduced in value by 70% from the year before...he wanted to make sure than my share was lower)

Thrugelmir

anon02917 wrote: »

Does anyone have any experience with Santander? I hear bad things, that they are fairly ruthless... if I explain the situation to them do you think they would consider removing me from the mortgage or does it solely rely on him remortgaging on his own and having the finances to support his application?

You have entered a contractually binding agreement. So any action that Santander might take is business nothing else, certainly nothing personal..

Is there any equity in the property? As the best option would be sell the property and cut all ties as soon as possible.

Speak to the Santander and advise them of the circumstances of you no longer living in the property. Be selfish do not contribute to the mortgage. Whether your ex partner can or cannot afford the mortgage is an issue for them.


PS. Always best to start a new thread not tag onto an existing one.

anon02917

Do you know what would happen if the lender didn't agree to the TOE? We just about managed to get the mortgage between both our wages so I highly doubt they will agree to him paying it on his own. Could I do a ToE to another party - say his parents, if they were willing to be vetted?

Wh05apk

Agree with Kingstreet, I think in the circumstances you need to be speaking to CAB/solictor possibly with a view to forcing a sale?

You mention about paying "your half" from a lenders point of view you are liable for the whole mortgage, so if he does not make payments, then it will affect your credit score, and missed mortgage payments are a big "no-no" to lenders, so you must ensure payments are maintained, until either he takes you off, or the property is sold.

anon02917

Thrugelmir wrote: »

You have entered a contractually binding agreement. So any action that Santander might take is business nothing else, certainly nothing personal..

Is there any equity in the property? As the best option would be sell the property and cut all ties as soon as possible.

Speak to the Santander and advise them of the circumstances of you no longer living in the property. Be selfish do not contribute to the mortgage. Whether your ex partner can or cannot afford the mortgage is an issue for them.


PS. Always best to start a new thread not tag onto an existing one.

I daren't not pay my half of the mortgage as I don't want to completely trash my credit rating. I can't rely on parents to support me financially so if I'm in a position where I can't get credit or even something like a mobile contract I'll be screwed.

Certainly the best option for me would be to sell it and cut ties, but I know he doesn't want to. If I try to force him to sell via a Solicitor I'm guessing it will cost me a lot of money...

kingstreet

The only way you can be certain you won't fall into arrears is by paying the whole mortgage payment yourself. You have a joint and several liability which means there's no my half, your half. If you pay half and he pays nothing, you will still be in arrears which affect you for a long time.

He could apply to add someone else to the mortgage as part of the TofE to remove you, but they have to be working age, earning and not due to retire during the mortgage term (unless they can provide evidence of income and ability to pay in retirement).

Thrugelmir

anon02917 wrote: »

Certainly the best option for me would be to sell it and cut ties, but I know he doesn't want to. If I try to force him to sell via a Solicitor I'm guessing it will cost me a lot of money...

Ultimately the loser would be your ex. As the matter eventually would end up in court. In this instance without a defence your ex would be liable for all the costs. (Judges hate having their time wasted).

anon02917

Thanks, I wasn't aware of that

Well I'm struggling to pay half of it myself let alone the whole thing. I don't think he will let me down with his side of the payments because he is still living in the house and relying upon it as the roof over his head. (I hope)

I'll speak to Santander about the ToE, it worries me that it won't be possible due to lack of finances on his part, and also that his parents won't be able to help due to age.

As he's not being forthcoming with an agreement to sell I suppose I'll have to go and speak to the CAB about going 'legal' with it. First things first I'll speak to Santander, will let you know how I get on!

Thanks again.

anon02917

- forgot to mention, he paid the deposit on the house which was quite a lot of money. It was between 15 & 20% of the full price. I didn't pay any deposit, which is why he doesn't want to sell. If theres any money to be lost and any fees to be paid they're likely to be coming out of his deposit before any money gets returned.

All good fun. :-/