Halifax Loan

shinglem

My partner and his ex-partner got a joint mortgage. Things went bad, the house was reposessed, and they were landed with a debt for around £8,500.00 due to early repayment of their mortgage (outstanding interest I think). He doesn't have any documentation as his ex-partner was a bit of a 'oh if I throw these letters away, it'll go away' sort.

They have since, understandably split up. DLC contacted him about 3 months afterwards to start a payment plan with him for the outstanding debt. He started paying £60.00 per month. We know from her that she paid 2 months at £40.00 and then cancelled her payments as she could not afford them anymore. He has been paying at this rate for over a year now.

The outstanding balance is just shy of £7,000.00. As it stands, we looked to be set to pay £60 per month (or more) for the life of the loan, as it was joint and severally liable. However DLC have recently contacted him to advise him he could 'settle' by paying 50% of the outstanding amount. Now they have since clarified that by 'settle' they mean only his liability of the loan. He requested this in writing tonight, which has come by email.

To pay this sum, I would likely have to take a personal loan as well as use some joint savings we have managed to accumulate - obviously I want to ensure that if I do this, he will indeed be let out of the original lending contract. I could therefore use some urgent advice as to whether this document would stand up in court, and whether it would remove his liability from the original agreement.

The following is the email (come directly from the correct company)

[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]28 June 2012[/FONT]




[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Dear ___________[/FONT]




[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Client: Halifax [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Client Reference: ________
[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Balance Outstanding: ________
[/FONT]




[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Further to our telephone conversation we confirm that we will accept £3466.71[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif],[/FONT][FONT=Arial, sans-serif] in full and final settlement of your liability.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]I can confirm that payment of £3466.71 will settle your liability and remove your name from this debt.[/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Payment must reach us by no later than 27 July 2012 failure to do so may result in the settlement offer being withdrawn. [/FONT]




[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Please acknowledge receipt of this email. [/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Yours sincerely[/FONT]








[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]___________[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Finance Team Leader [/FONT]


[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Do we need to request this on letter-headed paper with a signature? Even if we did this, could we be sure that they would never contact us again advising that he is still joint and severally liable?
If I need them to clarify or add anything to their letter, I would greatly appreciate some help as to what to write.

I would gladly pay this amount now, rather than essentially pay the ex's entire half of the loan as well as my partner's, and it shouldn't be a problem for me to get a loan for half of the amount and pay off the rest. Nor are we looking at breaking up any time soon

Thank you to anyone who looks at this!
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