Tenants in Common - Partner won't move out/Applying for Order of Sale

patienceisavirtue

Hoping someone can help with advice.

My ex-partner and I are Tenants in Common on a flat we jointly own (50/50), worth approx. £280k with a £220k mortgage.

We split and I moved out in September 2009 (four years ago). He lives at the property and is paying a low mortgage payment (£450/month) on an interest only mortgage of £220k.

To avoid the penalties to get out of a fixed rate mortgage we agreed to wait until 1st Sep 2012 to move on releasing my half of capital (approx. £30k).

He said he wanted to buy the flat - had the means to borrow and the deposit - tried to obtain a mortgage but was refused because fraud had affected his credit rating. He spent months (apparently) trying to have this rectified - but didn't actually seem to be achieving much.

So we put the flat on the market Nov 2012, he agreed he would move out, sale was agreed with a buyer in a matter of weeks (and over Christmas so the flat isn't too hard to sell), the solicitors did their stuff - but he refused to sign and refused to move out (this was in April 2013) saying he wanted to buy it. The buyer was understandably distraught, left out of pocket for survey and solicitor's fees, the estate agent was apoplectic, and I was exasperated.

We jointly received a bill of £800+ from the solicitor - which I insisted he pay as he had obstructed the sale. He paid it.

He was again refused a mortgage - apparently due to some more fraudulent activity - this time embedded deep in MY credit file (we were financially associated as have joint mortgage - at first glance my Experian was Excellent - when I called up they found some 2 bogus uses of my details), I set about sorting this out and they were finally gone from my record 5 weeks ago.

I also made sure we were financially disassociated and asked him to proceed with his mortgage application asap.

5 weeks later and we're no further forward - he says he's now waiting for news back from Halifax underwriter. (Having been refused a mortgage it had to go to the underwriter.)

He's still only paying £450/month (on a flat with a rental value of around £1400/month) - I still don't have my capital - and I'm still on the mortgage.

My questions are:

1. How long does it take for an underwriter (at Halifax or elsewhere) to come back with a decision. I'd like to know is he stalling me (again)?

2. How difficult, expensive and time consuming is it to apply for an Order for Sale under the Property Act?

3. Could I apply for an Order of Sale without engaging a solicitor? (I run my own small company - so reasonably able (I hope?!))

4. I know he has in the past year or so received medication (anti-psychotic drugs) and counselling (I believe he's still employed - he had been signed off for a while - not sure if he's back or not) Could this become an issue to a court when issuing an Order of Sale?

5. If I applied for an Order of Sale - and won - who would pay the legal costs?

6. Could I apply for the difference between mortgage paid and rental value - that I'm effectively losing on the property while he lives there?

7. Lastly, I spoke to a solicitor today who suggested I could sign over the property to my ex with a Deed of Trust - register him with Land Registry as sole owner - in return for my capital - and then he could in due course get a new mortgage, repay the existing removing me from the mortgage. My instinct is this is a bad idea in the long run. If he doesn't obtain a mortgage for any reason (one being he's repayments are super cheap on the interest only and he'd have to go on a repayment) - I'm left stuck on that one (problematic when I want a new mortgage) - and as it's an interest only - in 15 years I'd probably be left to repay half the loan - which would be about £110k. Anyone any thoughts on this one?


Thanks for your help people.

getmore4less

how big is the flat, if 2 bed+ time for lodgers move someone into your share.

get him to pay you 1/2 the market rent cor your share.

Are you sure he has enough deposit and salary to support £250k?

ValHaller

Crossposted. More action on the otherthread https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4787177

OP, please don't crosspost - or if you must, at least say on both threads that this is what you have done. Otherwise you risk wasting people's time covering points that have already been addressed.