how to solve the unsolveable?

Emmacw

Hi Folks, hoping you can give me some advice for my friend.

Her marriage is on the rocks after endless financial problems brought on by husband burying his head in the sand and keeping her in the dark (she doesn't know how much he earns).

He has been in Australia since Sept 2006 supposedly earning mega bucks on contract work (4.5k net 4wkly). He sends home money each month approx 2.5 - 3k (although she has to constantly chase him for it). She has found out about a lot of his debts and set up S/O's to start paying them.

Anyway, now she she has found out he has been having an affair in Aus (her fault apparently cos she keeps nagging about the money!!!) and is not sure whether she can continue.

Their house is in joint names and they have a couple of various joint debts along with each having some personal debt (CC's etc.)

She owes Tax Credits cos they never completed the end of year forms for the one year I managed to get them to claim CTC etc as husband never tells her what he earns and refused to sort it out.

The problem is this:

The (joint) secured loan (via Ocean finance) of £5k got taken to court for repossession in Feb/March 2007 but is suspended cos she paid the arrears.

Her (joint) mortgage of £151k interest only is with GMAC (!!)

The house is worth approx £220 - £235k

He has at least 5 CCJ's against him including ones from HMRC.
She has at least 2 CCJs against her name

Their personal debt form the CCJ's and CC's is probably around £20k
They also owe approx £3.5k to family

If husband goes back to Aus, I just know he won't send her any money (he got paid last week and is in the country with her but has yet to transfer anything to her).

I want to help her (if it comes to this) to sell the house before it is repossessed to maximise the amount she gets for it but with the Ocean Finance susp court order already there if she doesn't pay next months installment I am thinking they could act very quickly and get the house off her.


As the house is in joint names can she sell the house if he doesn't sign up for this?

Will she have to let the house get repossessed?

Can one of his family get a limited power of attorny to deal with his financial affairs whilst he is out of the country (not sure he'll agree to this anyway).

Is there anything else she can do?

(I work for Jobcentreplus so am aware of benefits etc)

I have looked into the local CAB opening times and was thinking of taking her along there for advice - is this a good idea - can they help in this situation?

I also though there was a possibility of getting some free legal advice via a solicitor who offers their first 1/2 hour free - think I remember reading that some solicitors do this?

Sorry for long post but trying to get this down in a readable format is quite difficult!


Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Regards and thanks!

Emma

hypno06

Presumably she doesn't have any income of her own and relies on whatever husband pays. Does she have any ability to earn to keep things afloat for the mo if she is not already doing so?

I think a trip to the CAB will be a wise thing, as will making use of the free half hour's legal advice - most firms will offer this so might as well use it when needed.

She is lucky to have a friend like you and I am sure others will be along to offer their advice.

lynsayjane

oh emma, deep sympathies for your friend, what a horrible thing to be living through. I hope she cherishes you for helping her through this.
I'd say yes to the cab visit, you can get advice from a solicitor for free through them and she may qualify for legal aid due to her debts, they should be able to advise on this.
am afraid thats the only help I can offer, I have no idea about the rest of the questions. Big hugs to your friend and you for being such a star!

pania

Hi emma, poor friend and so sorry to hear of her situation. Is not her fault in anyway, she's been more than supportive letting him work on the other side of the world.
I think TBH she really needs to learn of the extent of debt that he is in. Has he secured any more debt on the house without her knowledge?
It seems highly unreasonable to me that ocean would repossess their property for £5000. Was a possession order granted on the first occasion? if so then yes they could go straight in for repossession, but if not then they would have to go bck to court and apply again and certain procedures would need to be followed. GMAC aren't a bad lender at all for people with adverse credit. does she have any arrears with them? if not then believe ocean finance would need to get the backing of gmac for repossession as they have the "first charge" ie priority on the house.and they are unlikely to run with this if she has a flawless history with them.
If the property is repossessed the company has to sell it for "reasonable market value" GMAC will be paid off and ocean finance, and any surplus after costs would be forwarded to your friend and partner to do as they will.
If they honestly decide they cannot carry on, then to sell the property would require both of their consents. It is so sad that she doesn't know how much he earns or how much debt he is in. also why does he only send home such a small amount if he earns 4k per week!I really do feel for your friend on this, particularly with the children involved.
Go see CAB they are fantastic. Really hope this helps and sorry there isn't more i can do.
Kind regards
P
xx

Emmacw

thanks for your quick replies.

She is currently working as a carer for approx 10-15 hours per week. Problem is she has 2 boys (6 & 10) and so is restricted to school hours term time. She works 1 in 3 w/ends by using her inlaws as overnight baby sitters.

She cannot really work much more hours due to the school hours and with husband out of the country she cannot work evenings etc.

She has also just been put on anti depressants - this was before she found out about the affair - as she wasn't coping with being on her own with all the debts and the kids.

She had previously been asking her husband to find work in the UK as she needed him but he seems to like the glory jobs (the big I am?) and the big bucks (obviously having kept a big slice every month for himself).

She cannot claim Tax Credits as they still deem her to be a couple (this is before the affair problem) and they told her she needed to put on the form how much husband earnt in the previous tax year which she doesn't know and we have no way of finding out. But in all honesty I figured he is above the £58k anyway bearing in mind he was earning big bucks in Aus.

I have told her the worst case scenario is that she will lose the house and walk away with nothing but the debts cleared (hoping there is enough equity in the house for this at least). She can then claim Income Support as a Lone Parent and move into rented accom and claim Housing Benefit. If she could cope with 16+ hours pw then we can go down the WTC route.

In some ways I think it would be best if the house was sold even if they have a future together as the debts are too big. Better to be in rented so if his work dires up (as it has done at least once a year for past 4 years) they can then claim HB straight away.

What a mess - feel so helpless.

Have tried so hard over the past 2 years to sort their finances out without taking control, just gently encouraging. It took her 6 months to do their Credit Scores via Equifax and Experian (thanks Martin for the letters!) but she did it in the end - hence the CCJs - she didn't know about them or what they mean!

You can lead a horse to water but..............

Thanks again to all who read, any nuggets of info and GRATEFULLY received!

Emma

Emmacw

pania wrote: »

Hi emma, poor friend and so sorry to hear of her situation. Is not her fault in anyway, she's been more than supportive letting him work on the other side of the world.
I think TBH she really needs to learn of the extent of debt that he is in. Has he secured any more debt on the house without her knowledge?
It seems highly unreasonable to me that ocean would repossess their property for £5000. Was a possession order granted on the first occasion? if so then yes they could go straight in for repossession, but if not then they would have to go bck to court and apply again and certain procedures would need to be followed. GMAC aren't a bad lender at all for people with adverse credit. does she have any arrears with them? if not then believe ocean finance would need to get the backing of gmac for repossession as they have the "first charge" ie priority on the house.and they are unlikely to run with this if she has a flawless history with them.
If the property is repossessed the company has to sell it for "reasonable market value" GMAC will be paid off and ocean finance, and any surplus after costs would be forwarded to your friend and partner to do as they will.
If they honestly decide they cannot carry on, then to sell the property would require both of their consents. It is so sad that she doesn't know how much he earns or how much debt he is in. also why does he only send home such a small amount if he earns 4k per week!I really do feel for your friend on this, particularly with the children involved.
Go see CAB they are fantastic. Really hope this helps and sorry there isn't more i can do.
Kind regards
P
xx

Not sure on the Ocean Finance - I saw the Court Papers but it got sent to court during which time she paid the arrears so the paperwork then said something along the lines of able to go straight back to court within 12 months if falls behind again. Don't think it had actually been done in court (i.e. only papers served?)

No further debt as far as I know - he didn't have any bank accounts in the UK as he credit is so bad. When he worked in UK last year and before his wages went into his Wife's account.

His debt includes £4k+ to HMRC and 2 x CC debts that have been passed to debt collectors cos he never replied to any of their letters. Needless to say when he went to Aus my friend then got the telephone calls and the letters and even a visit (not nice). But at least sorted out minimum repayment although has no idea whether this is clearing the debt, how much actual debt is (approx £3k & £2.5k?), whether intrest is still acrruing, how long until repaid etc.


GMAC - afraid they have arrears of just over 1.5 months amount (£1600+). They are not pushing her for anything as she is paying the mortgage on time every month but is being charged £50 every month she is in arrears.

The issue for me is as you said - selling the house requires both their consents - don't see him giving it willingly.

I could brain him, I really could! I want to sit down with him and try and get him to understand the severity of things but he doesn't listen and he is not keen on me as I have had a hand in their finances and he doesn't like it. (I think its about power, I have given his wife some - knowledge is power - and he knows his waffle doesn't fool me at all).

I'll get onto the solicitor side of things now.

many thanks for your info

Emma