Can someone make me sell my house?

flogget06

Cutting a long story short when we bought our house there was 3 of us. one person paid a 3rd in cash and myself and my partner got a mortgage out on the remaining 2 3rds.
now the person who paid the 3rd in cash wants their money back. we received a solicitors letter saying we either pay the money back in the next 3 weeks (which we dont have) or we must sell the house.
can they make us sell? we cant afford a solicitor at the moment as we were made redundant at Christmas.
We cant sleep or think of anything else so any advice would be great we do not want to sell and love our home. thanks x

BitterAndTwisted

Yes, they can but not without a court order. Going to court is not an inexpensive business. Presumably, there was some plan in place for a couple to buy the third party out at some point? Was there anything agreed, like a legal document of some sort? How long have you three owned this property?

G_M

Only a court can force a sale.

Whose name(s) are on the deeds? Usually a mortgage lender will only lend if the joint borrowers' names match the Title names.

If the cash paid was a loan (with written terms) then the 3rd person could call in the loan (subject to the original terms of the loan) but again would have to go to court for this, but from what you say it was not a loan - it was a joint purchase. YOU did not receive the cash. He paid the cash and received in return.... 1/3 of a house.

When you jointly bought the property, did you not think through and agree what would happen in the future if any of you wanted out?

(g'morning bitter!)

BitterAndTwisted

Triangular relationships are more often doomed than not, especially where two parties are joined in a romance. Third wheel etcetera.

Either sell up, remortgage or wait for the court order.

Morning G_M!

flogget06

The plan was as this was my partners family (which we trusted) we would all live there together which we did for many years as we bought the property about 8 years ago. yes the 3rd was paid for by cash not a loan. the deeds are in 2 names mine and my partners not the person who paid cash but they did a deed of trust.
We agreed but not on paper that we would pay them back bit by bit but never expected they would want it in one go with 3 weeks notice. We have been too trusting and silly but I wasn't very old and had never bought a house before but yes I totally understand I have been a fool and will learn. How much do you think it costs to go to court roughly?

G_M

flogget06 wrote: »

.... the deeds are in 2 names mine and my partners not the person who paid cash but they did a deed of trust.

If the deed are in your name, the house is yours!

What does the Deed of Trust say?

flogget06

the land registry / mortgage / property is in 2 names mine and my partners. the deed of trust is in 3 names.
we have read it thoroughly and it does not say anywhere that if they want their money back we must sell it only says that when it is sold they get a 3rd.
But its just the way the solicitor has written the letter to us I didn't know they knew something we didn't. But your all saying only a court?
I also want everyone to know that we all were on speaking terms etc and this letter has literally came out of the blue and they at no point have asked us for the money or told us they wanted it back now.

TheHardWay

There is a good chance they have just give a solicitor £50 to write up a scare tactic letter, I cant see how they can make you sell the house if there not on the deeds?

G_M

Ignore. Don't even bother to reply. Chances are you'll not hear from the solicitor again, or at most one more 'warning' letter which you again ignore (unless it says something specific we have not yet heard about).

BitterAndTwisted

Who has been making the mortgage payments? Does the third person not live in the property any longer? It can cost thousands to get something like this to court. Not certain as I've not known anyone who has done this. In any case, in the long-term it would be much better to extricate yourselves from this situation sooner rater than later.

Richard_Webster

If you were going to pay them back gradually then why weren't you doing that? They probably think that if you have lost your jobs there is no realistic prospect of them being paid back.

If there is a deed of trust then I think they probably could eventually get a court order for sale.

You need to talk to them and ask what they really want. If they had some regular payments towards the amount they put in they might be satisfied. It will cost them a lot to go to court and their solicitor will tell them that, so they will probably be prepared to agree some compromise.