Will I be made `homeless`

Annisele

MuffinTops wrote: »

You have proof she lives elsewhere and that you are the sole mortgage payer and logic would suggest that this would go a long way in getting her off the mortgage whether she likes it or not

That can work very well for some people (and it sounds as though it did for you). Unfortunately I don't think it'll be quite that simple for the OP. There are (at least) two separate issues there:

1. Who gets the benefit of the equity in the house? If ex hasn't paid anything towards the property, there are certainly arguments for ex getting nothing.

2. Who can the mortgage lender chase if the borrowers don't pay? At the moment, if OP doesn't pay (either now or in two years), then the lender can choose to go after the OP, his ex, or both. Given the OP's situation, it's likely the lender will be most reluctant to release the ex from her responsibility.

Ultimately, I think OP needs to either get the mortgage extended (which is likely a no-no with Santander in his current circumstances), find another lender to remortgage with (very difficult), or change his circumstances. The only things I can think of are selling and renting, or taking in a lodger - but there may be more.

RenovationMan

OP, here is some information about pensions credit:

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/Documents/EN-GB/Factsheets/FS48_Pension_Credit_fcs.pdf?dtrk=true

The main thing to remember is that your mortgage interest (upto £100k) will be paid for, your council tax, your ground rent and the interest on any loans that you have to take out for the repair of your home. These benefits will continue for the rest of your life in that house.

As far as your Santander mortgage is concerned, I found this:

M.F.
PROBLEM: Endowment mortgage taken out 27 years ago. But mortgage now at an end and to horror has discovered that endowment cancelled in 1985 because premiums not paid. Santander is now demanding £7,500 but aged 72 she has no way of raising funds (can't use house to release equity because value is insufficient).
WHAT SANTANDER SAID: 'M.F.'s endowment policy is invalid due to lack of payment since 1985. However, further to a visit to her branch, we have now agreed an extension to the term and conversion to repayment over 7 years. The latter is an exemption to our current policy as it does take M.F. over our maximum age limit of 75. However given the circumstances of this case we are prepared to make an exception to help M.F.'

Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-1705513/Santander-Your-problems-fixed-week-6.html#ixzz1k2kf0T4p

Mistral001

I am in a similar sitution to the OP with regard to having about a two year period until I have to pay back what I owe the mortgage and not that much in my endowment fund to do that.

Just being philosophical for a minute.

This is a bit like story of the scientist with the experiment of the frog in the beaker of hot water:

Scientist puts a frog in a beaker of hot water and it jumps out and runs away. He then puts the frog in a beaker of cold water but this time slowly heats up the beaker (he is not a very nice scientist) until it gets hotter and hotter and the frog does not leap out but dies. I think this is an urban myth, but a good story.

I feel like the second frog.

Thrugelmir

RenovationMan wrote: »

You need to speak to your mortgage provider and let them know your situation. They will probably just leave your mortgage open ended.

Mortgages are not open ended. They are contractual arrangements with a specified end date. The OP's ex also has a joint and several liability for the debt. So in 2 years time the matter will crystallise in any event. As a new mortgage application will have to be submitted most likely in a sole name.

RenovationMan

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Mortgages are not open ended. They are contractual arrangements with a specified end date. The OP's ex also has a joint and several liability for the debt. So in 2 years time the matter will crystallise in any event. As a new mortgage application will have to be submitted most likely in a sole name.

Probably, though my parents friends were in the same boat as the OP and their lender just extended the mortgage indefinitely and pensions credit paid the mortgage. I guess it just depends upon the lender.

Seriously though, if you were a mortgage lender where you had guaranteed mortgage payments from the government until someone died or went into a nursing home (perhaps 30 years) that would probably cover the outstanding mortgage capital a couple of times over and then you also got that capital back when the person died and the house was sold, wouldn't you just jump at the chance?

suburbanwifey

The other party (your children's mother) does not need to be resident at all to be a co-owner of the property, and nor should she be. Unfortunately for you, she co-owns that property and there is nothing you can legally do to change that. She would be foolish to sign away her rights to the property by taking herself off the deeds, deeds is the important thing here, not particularly the mortgage. If you ask her to remove herself, she is entitled to 50% of the equity at the time of that removal yet you seem unwilling to give her that. You should have taken this into account when you bought a house with another person. Co-purchase means co-ownership. I appreciate you have been footing the bill for this house for the last 10 yrs but sadly, in law, this is irrelevant. She is a co-owner and I personally think she is highly unlikely to throw away the investment that is your home sadly. I know I wouldn't. Most people wouldn't. There is no benefit to her whatsoever to removing herself and signing the house solely over to you, so why would she do it?

If you sold, the solicitor dealing with the house sale would be obliged by law to pay her the monies she is owed. However, if you just 'stay put' and do nothing, the mortgage company will issue repossession proceedings when the mortgage reaches maturity and you don't pay it off!

You need to do something, cannot bury your head in the sand over the next 2 yrs. At least you have 2 yrs to sort it and frankly, yes! in your position I would panic, its not a good position to be in at all! If you sell, you have to give her half and your half of the money will entitle you to no benefits - if you don't sell, they will repossess upon maturity of the mortgage. There is no way the mortgage company will extend past the maturity date, they want their money back on that day period.

If I seem harsh, I am not meaning to, but it does annoy me sometimes when co-owners of properties seem to think that just because they are the only one's paying the mortgage for a few years, that the other co-owner is entitled to nothing! That's not how it works, sorry.

silvercar

You need to do something, cannot bury your head in the sand over the next 2 yrs. At least you have 2 yrs to sort it and frankly, yes! in your position I would panic, its not a good position to be in at all! If you sell, you have to give her half and your half of the money will entitle you to no benefits - if you don't sell, they will repossess upon maturity of the mortgage. There is no way the mortgage company will extend past the maturity date, they want their money back on that day period.

If I seem harsh, I am not meaning to, but it does annoy me sometimes when co-owners of properties seem to think that just because they are the only one's paying the mortgage for a few years, that the other co-owner is entitled to nothing! That's not how it works, sorry.

Totally agree. Remember also that it is the taxpayer that has been paying the mortgage not OP!

Really the only hope in this situation is that the lender agrees to extend the term of the original mortgage. Selling or repossession gives OPs ex partner half the equity and creates savings for the OP that means no benefits.

The other question I have is whether OPs ex partner would have to agree to request the mortgage term to be extended. At the moment OPs partner could expect to get half the equity in 2 years time, maybe they have been happy to wait until this date, but are looking forward to getting their share of the equity and don't want to delay this further?

Mistral001

suburbanwifey wrote: »

....and frankly, yes! in your position I would panic, its not a good position to be in at all! .

I hope you are not offering panicking as an option.

suburbanwifey

Mistral001 wrote: »

I hope you are not offering panicking as an option.

No, merely agreeing that panic is an understandable state to be in with his current predicament. There is no easy solution and he loses out whichever option he takes.

suburbanwifey

silvercar wrote: »

Totally agree. Remember also that it is the taxpayer that has been paying the mortgage not OP!

Really the only hope in this situation is that the lender agrees to extend the term of the original mortgage. Selling or repossession gives OPs ex partner half the equity and creates savings for the OP that means no benefits.

The other question I have is whether OPs ex partner would have to agree to request the mortgage term to be extended. At the moment OPs partner could expect to get half the equity in 2 years time, maybe they have been happy to wait until this date, but are looking forward to getting their share of the equity and don't want to delay this further?

Agreed. My guess is she won't agree to extend the mortgage, even if they did agree to extend until death (unlikely, to be honest!) as she would *never* get her equity out of that property until he died, and lets face it, she might die before him. They are obviously not together any longer and haven't been for years (am assuming here, so sorry if I am wrong on that count) so why would she or would she want to, give away all that money that is tied up in that bricks and mortar? I wouldn't, and that is the truth and many others wouldn't in that situation either.

If the OP works on that scenario, that she will want her slice of the pie in 2 yrs, he will look in the correct direction for a solution. If he dreams she will walk away from the house without a penny, I think he will be sadly disappointed when that 2 year deadline arrives. Best to look on the worst case scenario and figure out a plan from there. More realistic.