Getting my name added to a mortgage

flossie1968

Adding my name to a mortgage
Hi
I don't know if anybody out there can help me but I would be grateful for any advice!!
I have posted this elsewhere and they suggested I put it in this section.
I have lived at a property for the last six years after my husband bought the property with mine and my father's help in 2007.
The property was bought for £250,000 with a £157,000 mortgage and the rest coming from a cash deposit, made up of money from my father and cash from the sale of property which I owned.
For some reason at the time we decided not to put my name on the mortgage (probably as I couldn't get a mortgage because of bad credit rating) but agreed it would be in my husband's name.
We paid the mortgage from a joint bank account and I should also point out at this time that my husband applied for a second mortgage of £10,000 on the property without my knowledge but that is not the issue here.
We moved in with our two young children, who are now 13 and nine respectively.
Last year, on July 29 2012, after ten years together and two years marriage, he annouced he was leaving me, that our marriage was over and he no longer loved me swearing there was nobody else involved.
Of course, there was another woman, which I discovered two weeks later, and promptly threw him out along with all his belongings, took the key of him and told him to sling his hook.
Since then I have remained in the house, paid the repayment mortgage every month without fail and am managing to keep a roof over mine and my two children's heads.
Now we are in the final throes of divorce and obviously the question of the property has come up. My husband is happy to sign the house over to me and obviously can sign a deed of trust/ consent order to this effect. I am also going to sign something to say I will make every endeavour to get his name removed from the mortgage in the not too distant future.
But, and this is where the problem lies, I am unable to get my name added to the mortgage because a) I have a bad credit report and b) on my wages I couldn't get a mortgage on a small garden shed.
I spoke to a lovely gent at the mortgage company the Halifax who sympathised with me but pointed out that it is done on computer approval/ credit checks etc, and if the computer says no, the answer is no. There is no appeal process and the days of bank managers agreeing something because they knew you were a trustworthy soul are long gone.
Despite the fact that with my name on the mortgage, it reduces the element of risk to the Halifax, it's just not possible - beause the computer says no.
So, where does that leave me? I have obviously regsitered a charge with the Land Registry on my solicitor's advice and rathert unfortunately there is no evidence of a deed of occupation for myself and unsurprisingly it cannot be done now - because the computer says no.....
I will continue paying the mortgage. I have no intention of defaulting on the mortgage. I have worked far too hard to go down that road and I wasn't brought up in a world of repossessions although admittedly I have had some credit issues which I am now addressing. I have a debt management plan with Stepchange (again, all down to the husband's irresponsible spending) but I am managing it well.
Any advice you could give me would be much appreciated. The crux is that at present I am unable to get my name added to the mortgage, although I am well able to afford the repayments. My parents have now passed away so cannot stand as guarantors.
There were no deeds of trust but I do have evidence of sales of my previous properties and the monies being transferred to pay deposits etc.
PS. It probably doesn't help that we had a joint account with the Halifax that he ran up a £2,500 overdraft on which remains unpaid and with a debt recovery agency. As the account is in both our names, I pay £45 a month to pay this debt off and he pays £5. I rest my case.

StuC75

What is the mortgage balance at now? and what is a realistic valuation now? How many years left on the mortgage..

With your history of credit problems (surrounding why in husbands name rather than yours with an IVA).. The easiest option may be to sellup and downsize..

Tancred

Could you not simply sell the house? I don't see what else you can do. Can you pay off the mortgage - or most of it - with what you have inherited from your parents?

BitterAndTwisted

Your only choice is to continue paying the mortgage until such time as you can raise a mortgage in your own name and settle your husband's.

As you were married when the property was purchased it is now a joint-asset as has been for some time, so I don't understand why you are worrying about having proof of where the funds came from originally.

What I would warn you about is to go through the divorce procedure without agreeing the financial settlement. Doing one without the other can bring all sorts of risks which you probably wouldn't want seeing as you have responsibility for your two children. I would suggest that you resolve the divorce issue once you are in a position to take on the mortgage alone and not before.

TBagpuss

You can have a declaration of trust stating that your husband holds the property on trust for you. This can be recorded in your consent order.

Your interest in the property can be registered at the Land Registry which will offer you protection against your husband later trying to sell or remortgage the house.

It may be worth talking to a broker to see whether it would be possible to remortgage with a different lender, in the joint names or yourself and your husband - then in another year or two, with a track record of good payments, you may be able to apply to have his name removed.

If not, you stay where you, the mortgage stays in his name, and you reapply in the future, having ensured in the mean time that you are rebuilding your credit rating.

Kynthia

TBagpuss wrote: »

You can have a declaration of trust stating that your husband holds the property on trust for you. This can be recorded in your consent order.

I too wondered whether getting a deed of trust stating the OPs beneficial interest, or at least stating the amount of deposit that they put into the property, might be a good idea whilst the ex is still amenable. I'm sure a solicitor could advise on this.