Joint mortgage abroad...do I have to sell?

Swannette

Hi, Please can someone give me advice. I bought an apartment in Mallorca with my boyfriend 5 years ago. At Christimas my partner suddenly up and left and now says he wants to sell the apartment, the valuation is shockingly low and I don't want it to go on the market until it is worth a bit more. Can he make me sell? He has already had people view it yet I have told him not to instruct an agent yet. We have a spanish mortgage on it in both of our names. Can anyone help? Thanks, Swannette. PS If you need to know more, please just ask me.

Thrugelmir

Are you continuing to repay the debt yourself?

Swannette

Thanks for replying. No my ex is paying the mortgage, he owes about £70,000 of it and I owe about £30,000. He lived with me (I have a mortgage on my home) and the agreement was that I pay for everything for my house and he paid for everything for the apartment.

dimbo61

property prices in spain and england may remain low for years and the housing market may never recover in spain so why do you want to keep a holiday home in spain ?
What happens if your EX decides he wont pay the mortgage in spain !
The lender can chase you for the debt and you could lose your home.
Let him sell up and move on with your life

FraudBuster

the housing market may never recover in spain

A friend has decided to keep their Spanish property for the benefiit of their as yet unborn grandchilren.
They are well aware that the property may have fallen down or become a victim of Mediterranean global warming before they will be able to use it.

Thrugelmir

Swannette wrote: »

Thanks for replying. No my ex is paying the mortgage, he owes about £70,000 of it and I owe about £30,000. He lived with me (I have a mortgage on my home) and the agreement was that I pay for everything for my house and he paid for everything for the apartment.

As in the UK, the legal liability for the debt is joint and several. So if your ex doesn't pay the mortgage you may have a problem. So trying to stop a sale may be fruitless as it could potentially happen by default.

Being in the EU means more than likely the debt will be actively pursued in the event of a shortfall.

Noviceinvestor

Without knowing how the law works in Spain, I wouldn't have thought the property could be sold without both your signatures on the papers.

If you want to keep the property, could you think about buying him out of his share? If the valuation is low, this would be to your advantage, as you'd own it outright for a low price.

If you can't afford to do this then I agree with the others that you should cut your losses and sell.