Shared Ownership Problem

poppet17

20 years ago my husband and myself bought a 25% share in a property....due to my husband inability to take care of his finances over the following 15 years years I discovered that he was some £45,000 in debt (which would explain why every time I broached the subject of purchasing the rest of the shares he made excuses not to) he always paid the rent and the mortgage so the house was not under threat but one company put a charge on what I thought was our share of the property and over the last 5 years has continued to pay his debts off but we will never be able to purchase any more of the property. So, OK you may think...we just continue to pay the rent once the mortgage is cleared and as I am older than my husband it seems he will probably be on his own eventually. As this is my second marriage and we have no children of our own but I have 3 children from a previous marriage I felt happy knowing that at least my children would inherit a little bit from the proceeds of my share of the house or if my husband should go before me then I would just continue to rent the house.
However, it seems that this is not the case, I had reason to call my co-owners (Housing Association) a few months ago but they refused to speak to me saying they would only speak to the home owner, when I informed them that I was the joint home owner I was shocked to discover that the house is not in my name at all only my husbands, on asking a lot of questions I was informed that if my husband was to die before me I would have to vacate the house and it would be sold, I would have not right to stay there and that I should consult a solicitor because as long as there was a mortgage on the house nothing could be changed, once the mortgage was paid off my name could be put on the rental side of the property but it would be a new lease. This means having to pay for their solicitors and my solicitors to draw up a new lease and the rent would inevitably rise quite considerably. Our problem is this: we do not have the money to pay of the mortgage or pay one solicitor let alone two, we are not entitled to legal aid because we are over the threshold, my husband has a CCJ against him because of his debts so cannot get a mortgage for the rest of the house and I have just been retired on health grounds from work, so I have no income and we relay solely on what my husband earns. I just don't know what to do, my husband has just buried his head in the sand all these years and continues to do so and I no longer feel I have any security for myself for the future and now I have nothing to leave to my children. My husband refuses to write a will and he has no life insurance. I feel totally let down by the husband that I thought was so caring and by a system that will allow someone to be put out on the streets. I know what you will say "this could be a long way off, it may never happen" but we all have to plan for our future and I thought that we had a least gone a little way to doing that...well my husband has for himself but there is nothing for me and my family......I just do not know what to do now I feel completely lost. Can anyone please offer and help and advise?

richardw

Do you have important possessions of your own of sentimental value to leave to your children?

poppysarah

How did you think you'd jointly bought the property?

Sounds like there needs to be some serious conversations between you.

poppet17

Because we both applied for the house together and unfortunately the solicitors that we used gave us bad advice. There was nothing wrong with the contract, just the advice ie: he told us one thing and did another, our word against his, well you trust solicitors don't you?

poppet17

Nothing of great value...I thought I had bought the house jointly, that way my children could have some financial stability when I am gone. Now I have nothing to give them because I have sunk all my money into doing the house up, and I have no hold on it at all, its sickening.

CFC

It is sickening Poppet but I don't understand why you can't be put onto the mortgage part of the property at least?

poppet17

I'm in the process of seeing a solicitor but there is a charge on the property because he has got into debt (another thing I knew nothing about) and the solicitor has said that it may not be possible until the charge is paid, which will be impossible....it's a mess. Never again..I'm also going to the council to see if I can get a help with housing if this does not work because I can't cope with this anymore...he can have the house if I can't do anything and I will move out and take the furniture with me. Talk about being let down by the person you most trusted in the world to take care of things. I have made provisions for him if anything should happen to me but he has made no provision for me at all......:mad:

tom9980

Are you named on the mortgage? if not you are technically better off and can walk away if that's what you end up deciding.

richardw

Is your poor health temporary ?

poppet17

My poor health is long term, I will use my savings to pay off the mortgage... I am hoping I can then be put on the deeds and the rent then I will at least get half of the the portion that we own.....once the levy on the property has been paid off I'm going to leave and he can either buy me out or the property can be sold and I will start again. What a bloody mess....never again will I trust anyone.

poppet17

Well I had a letter from the solicitor today to say because of the debt on the property the house cannot have my name added and after a huge row about all this over the weekend I feel I have no option but to move out. It has been a disaster for me...A mixture of my trust, my husbands stupidity and very very bad advice. So all I can say to anyone who is looking to purchase through shared ownership make sure you get a solicitor who has previous experience of this kind of purchase and double check everything and ask loads of questions before you commit. I am now looking to rent a place of my own and my husband is going to ask the housing association to sell the house...it will pay off his debts and I get the furniture nothing else can be salvaged too much damage has been done. Perhaps once all of this is over we may be able at least speak to each other without shouting.