Needing some sound advice...

not_thinking_straight

Have recently split up with my partner and in the Summer of 2005 we bought a house together, two names on the mortgage, 50/50 arrangement between the two of us, mortgage with Northern Rock.

My ex has recently decided that they want out of the relationship and has officially moved out.... now I have got a lodger ready to move in which will result in my ex-partner not paying anything to the mortgage from this point forward, but somehow they expect to get a full 50/50 arrangement when we sell the house (perhaps in 1 or 2 years time) when I will have been totally responsible for mortgage payments? doesn't seem right to me.

I have not sought any legal advice but would like to know if anyone else has had any similar experiences and could advise me potentially on where I stand? should i get the house re-valued and tell them that they are entitled to 50% of the house at that point in time? or do I not any right to inflict this?

what may go in my favour is knowing that my partner is legally binded to our mortgage, yet is paying 0% towards it at present, the arrangement we have is purely on good will on my part which is slowly evaporating....

I would really appreciate some thoughts

Many thanks

lightspeed

I am in a similar situation right now - bought a house (June 2006) and have now split with my partner. She wants out of the house and wishes to take 50% of the equity now. She is still paying her share though.

Having got legal advice, the top and bottom of it is that she is entitled to 50% (the result of a joint mortgage) at the point of sale, however, the solicitor advised me to get 3 valuations on the property, minus any fee's and penalties and that would give me the figure that she would receive if the house was sold tomorrow. Thus, the amount i will have to find to keep the house in my name.

If you want to keep the house and any equity in the furure, you will have to find this sum of cash soon or make some agreement with your ex (this would rely a lot on trust and probably wouldnt be wise), however the house cannot be sold without both of you agreeing to it (if there is a dispute the court will decide, although this should be the last resort).

I dont know about your home/area but prices are still creeping up where i am therefore it was sensible to get the valuations done straight away to avoid added expense.

In effect, while their name is on the mortgage, they are entitled to 50% of the equity. You both must be in aggreement if you want to settle. It may work in your favour if they have not being paying their share but be sure to record exact figures.

good luck.

silvercar

Ideally you take over the mortgage and deeds totally, by buying your ex out at a price you both agree as described in lightspeed's posting para 2.

If your salary is not sufficient to justify a much larger mortgage, you may have no choice but to keep your partners name on the mortgage.

Or if you can't agree on a fair price, you and your ex continue to jointly own the house. then you should think of your lodger as renting off your ex, as the rental income will be paying your ex's share of the mortgage.

Remember house prices may go down as well as up, so any shares of equity could fall or rise.

A clean break sounds better, particularly if your ex wants to get a mortgage on another home.

slowhand_2

my partner is in a similar experience. Bought a new build in 1996 with his partner at the time with a joint mortgage in both names, they were not married. 18months later they split up and she moved out, they agreed for him to buy her out and take what ever she wanted from the house but did not sign and demand more money to be bought out. She then got it into her head that when the mortgage is paid off after the 25years she thinks she can walk in and claim 50% of what the house is worth. Have seeked legal advice and he ahs been told that at the time she moved out the way the property market was the house was worth no more than the day they bought it so actually they would have lost money through fees etc. for the last 8 and a bit years my partner has been paying the mortgage he has been told that because she has not contributed to the mortgage since she moved which also applies to the maintanence of the property she will not receive what she thinks. if she wants any money she has got to prove that she has contributed to the house since she moved out financially which she can't do. If you need house valuations to prove equity loss or gain my partner did not do this at the time but was advised to go to the nationwide house price indicies webpage, put in the required details and this will give you a plus/minus value loss/gain at the time in question. Hope this helps.

Darth_Domain

My situation is a mirror image of yours and i'm at a loss so need advice on this myself. My ex partner left in July 2006, we have a mortgage in joint names. Since she left she has not contributed to the mortgage and a loan which is secured on the property (also joint name). obviously i'm struggling financially, but the lender (funnily enough Northern Rock) has agreed to a couple of lower payments. My plan was to get a lodger to help maintain payments on the mortgage even though my Ex should be doing this. Then, i could complete work on the house and get it sold for a maximum amount. My Ex had given me a letter saying she had no objection to my getting a lodger to cover payments. But then when she knew that lodger was due to move in, she had decided to go to a solicitor and threaten to take me to court if i don't get the house on the market!! She is obviously being as spiteful as possible. Nevertheless, i have now got the place valued and it is just going on the market. She had however said through her solicitor that i have taken little action to put the house on the market since we split . Well, considering its me that has been maintaining payments and paying via my credit card to get the remaining work done on the house, and the numerous number of hours i have put in to do work, i think her statement is very wrong.
Problem is, the house is going for less than what is needed to pay the mortgage off, this is due to the amount of money we borrowed to do the major work on the house. So, there will be outstanding mortgage to pay off after sale, and the secured loan. As she has made no effort to contribute towards either, i doubt she will do so after sale. Does anyone know what action i could take? Why should she not contribute and i suffer financially to the point where i would have to declare bankrupty? I have thought that when the house is sold, i should stop paying any outstanding amounts so the lenders will have to take us both to court.