Stuck on mortgage with ex. Help!

Wywth

RachelBDHT wrote: »

I'd love anyone's help with this, I have a mortgage with my ex, we have been separated for 5 years, (mortgage for 7 yrs, last valuation 2 years ago 65k remaining mortgage 72k) he lives in the house with his new family and i am now married to someone else.
I would like to take my name off the mortgage but he cannot remortgage without a new deposit as its in negative equity (and he doesn't have a deposit)
Is there any way I can get my name off? (I won't pay deposit as paid the original one!)
He is being very difficult and not communicating with me.
I live 200 miles away and cannot camp outside the house to speak to him to sort it.
We need a valuation and a remortgage quote but need a real personal valuation, not a local area Internet search which they did last time which gave the low value.
Any ideas?
What can I do from such a distance?
Is there no way I can legally remove my name so that he HAS to deal with it?
I don't want any money from the sale! I just want out of the only thing connecting me to my old relationship! HELP!
Thanks.

RachelBDHT wrote: »

It is a repayment mortgage that luckily going down nicely.
It may be that the value and the remaining amount is much closer now.
It may be much simpler this time but he's just not getting anything sorted.

So was this house originally bought by you two on a 100% mortgage?

Because if after 5 years of paying a repayment mortgage on time & in full, the outstanding balance is £72k, (and assuming say a 4% interest rate and the mortgage was based over the typical 25 year period), then you must have originally borrowed about £83k. :eek:

The good news is that if the mortgage has continued to be paid, the outstanding balance 2 years on should now only be about £67k ... which doesn't seem too far away from the £65k the house was valued at 2 years ago. Perhaps it's now worth £67k

The bad news is your ex has paid in almost £12k of capital into this house he & his family now live in since you two split up 5 years ago (and that ingores the interest that was payable too) ... and I can't see him letting you have half of that.

You really should have sorted this out 5 years ago.

bigadaj

OP how much does your ex earn, and does he pay the full payment currently? The sums involved are relatively small so if he earns something like a reasonable wage then he can solve the problem if he wants to, problem is there's nothing forcing him to.

I'd write him a formal letter stating that you need a time period, maybe three to six months, over which this needs resolving. If it isn't you'll be looking to force a sale, as with a new family this Ma shock him into action. This probably won't produce a positive response, at which time I'd spend a couple of hundred on a solicitor and a letter from them saying the same thing with their headed paper and some legalese.

If the latter produces no response then its down to whether you want to go to court, and the risk that you might be held liable for several thousand pounds as ther is presumably still joint and severable liability.

whitewing

Also, is it possible that there could be other finance secured against the house that you don't know about? Not trying to scare you, just hoping that someone else will know how you can check this out to be sure.

RachelBDHT

Mrginge, trust me, I tried to sort it out and put it in my name 5 years ago but you can imagine the negative equity at that time and I did not have the money myself to put down another deposit. I tried again 2 years later.
I didn't bury my head and then be all panicky now years later. And I am paying for my mistake non-the-less.

Wywth, we had a 95% mortgage and paid more that that. About 95k. Last year my mortgage statement said 72k remaining. So give or take another 3-4k (minus the small interest rate)thats been paid this last year means the two figures may be close enough.. But we'll see..
My ex has only lived there 2 years of the 5 we've been split. I lived there the first 3 and paid it in full myself, including a brand new boiler..
Despite what i have paid towards the mortgage i DON'T want any money from the remortgage, there won't be any money to have!. I'm realistic. I just want off it once and for all. I paid 5k deposit from my only savings and could be a !!!!! and demand that back but am classing that 5k loss as a lucky escape if I ever get off it!

Please stop all telling me I should have sorted it.. I tried and tried and tried! Some people haven't got spare money for this kind of thing! i had spare cash and put it on a house. it backfired with a tool of a bloke who liked being unfaithful so I realised he was not worth keeping. mistakes happen. please don't judge a stranger and assume the situation.

Hence why I'm asking you lovely people for any miracle ideas to help.

Bigadaj, thanks for your comment, its ideas like that I'm looking at, some way to force him to consider manning up and protecting his family.
He earns enough to take on the mortgage (just) but hasn't the deposit they were asking for a few yrs ago. This may be a different situation now,
The main problem is his inability to pull his finger out of his backside and move on this. I have given him a 3 month timeframe being aware that it takes a while for advisors to be seen, and solicitors, documents etc to be sorted. It has been 7 weeks now and he has ignored every correspondence from me in every form. (Non legal yet but definitely worth.a try) And he has done nothing to arrange a mortgage quote/valuation etc.
The mortgage company don't care one bit about the situation so long as its being paid.

Whitewing, if there was finance secured on the loan would it show up on the mortgage yearly statement? And surely if it is a joint mortgage there would need to be authority from both the joint persons before they could do it?
I had worried about this but wondered if he could do it without my consent..

RachelBDHT

Whitewing, having had a quick read on secured loans, there has to be equity and there is non. Never has been. Hopefully that would mean that I'm ok on that part.. Thanks for your thoughts though!

Dave_Ham

From what you have said and this may be unlikely, he could have debts that if progressed were attached to the property. You can check this for a nominal fee at land registry.

His reluctance to get you off may well be down to a damaged credit history and inability to secure any sort of finance, may be a conversation opener...?

It must be this as anyone with half a brain would surely want rid of you too (meant nicely)

Not just mentally, but there is a very low interest rate from what you have said and you have stated that you want nothing so a very easy shoe horn into sole home ownership with no deposit and favourable terms.

I would punt on damaged credit and he genuinely does not know what to do.. (no excuses though)

I wish you well, on a more positive note; if your desire is to own your own home again then there are a couple of lenders that would potentially not include this in your affordability on a new mortgage if he continues to pay consistently.

All the best

zzzLazyDaisy

Wywth wrote: »

The bad news is your ex has paid in almost £12k of capital into this house he & his family now live in since you two split up 5 years ago (and that ingores the interest that was payable too) ... and I can't see him letting you have half of that..

It isn't a question of him letting OP have half of the capital he has paid in. That isn't how it works.

The house is held in joint names, which means that they are both jointly and severally liable for the mortgage debt (despite the fact that OP no longer lives there) and if/when the house is sold, they will both be equally liable for any shortfall on the mortgage due to negative equity. The fact that he has paid the mortgage while living there does not change this.

OP, assuming the house is in England or Wales, the legal situation is that a house held in joint names is held in trust. When the relationship breaksdown the purpose of the trust no longer exists and either party is entitled to insist that the house be sold, so that they are released from their obligations under the trust (ie to pay the mortgage). Unfortunately when a house is in negative equity this is not always a practical proposition. In your shoes I would wait until the capital repayments have brought the debt down enough to cover the current shortfall, and then insist that the house is sold (you may have to get a court order if he refuses to co-operate). He will then have to find a new home for his family, renting if necessary.

Vomityspice

OP, assuming the house is in England or Wales, the legal situation is that a house held in joint names is held in trust

Is the house held as joint tenants??

You would have thought that legal advice at the time of seperation would suggested that the ownership be servered. The sooner you change to 'tenants in common' the better! This can be done by way of letter, but would ensure that if the OP predeceases her ex, he won't simply get the whole house.

Also, it would protect the OP's half if the ex declares bankrupcy!!

zzzLazyDaisy

For the purposes of the dissolution of the trust and obtaining an order for sale if necessary 'jointly owned' encompasses joint tenants and tenants in common. In the same way as joint mortgagees are jointly and severally liable for the mortgage debt, regardless of whether they are joint tenants or tenants in common.

Having said that, your comments about severing the tenancy are valid, as is making a will. The house is in negative equity so it would probably be more a case of not inheriting his share of the shortfall, rather than protecting her share of the asset!

Severing can be done by way of a letter, as between the two parties, but should still be registered at the land registry.

Land_Registry

If the property is in England & Wales and registered in your joint names then best to check the details first as mentioned by others.

See section 4.1 of our online Public Guide 18 re how to change your kind of ownership if that is appropriate as mentioned by zzzLazyDaisy.