Advice please mortgage, credit card debts and ex husbands

phoebepants

Hello,

I'm hoping someone can give us some advice. My sister has lived in a council house from 1989. She has recently separated from her husband of 17 years. she held the tenancy in her name from 1989 until 2007 when they bought the house with her council discount and a joint mortgage. The house was remortgaged in 2010 and the mortgage was put into her husbands name as my sister did not have a working history so was unable to get on the new mortgage.

They have now separated and my sister moved out for 3 months. Her husband has recently agreed to move out and let her move back in to her home but she has to take over the mortgage and all payments.

Her husband is now threatening to go to his solicitors and force the sale of the house so that he can have his share of the equity in the house (would probably be around £17,000).

My sister has been getting calls from credit card companies chasing payments as he took credit cards and who knows what else when she moved out but hasn't been paying them!

My sister is understandably worried about what is going to happen, can the credit card company take the house off her for his debts? And can her ex take the her to court for the house and how long would this take if he were to do so?

My sister really wants to keep the house and is looking at ways to get the mortgage into her name (or her daughters) but it's just not happening quickly. She has marital rights in place thought the land registry.

Is there anything else she can do to protect her home?

Her ex's name only ended up on the mortgage by default he really doesn't care about keeping the house he just wants his money and the house is now the only control he has over her( has a history of violence, jealousy and controlling behaviour towards her and also a gambling problem - just for background)

Any help or information would be greatly received. Many thanks in advance

dimbo61

How old is the daughter?
Is your sister working ?

Land_Registry

Not too sure what the actual state of affairs are here as some of the details appear to conflict - it may help others if you clarify things a little more

If they are jointly registered as the owners then she would not have 'marital rights in place through the land registry' - such rights are normally noted where the property is registered in her spouse's sole name. If she is a joint owner then there is no additional protection required.

You also refer to their having bought it jointly in 2007 but that it was remortgaged in his sole name in 2010 - this may mean that they transferred the property into his sole name and hence the 'marital rights' aspect did then come into play?

phoebepants

Hello thanks for the replys

My sister is working and has now registered as self employed so working history is building up but won't happen over night. Her daughter is 23 working full time and has not bad credit but also doesn't really have a lot of credit in her name, only mobile phone so credit rating is low at the min.

Sorry for the conflicting info, Soo much has happened it's easy to get things blurred. Thw mortgage is currently soley in the the ex husbands name, hence the marital rights. It was originally a joint mortgage, but the mortgage was changed and only he was named on the mortgage.

Any help or info would be greatly received.

Many thanks

Land_Registry

Thanks for clarifying and apologies for delayed response.

By the sound of it then the property is registered in his sole name and mortgaged. She has noted her rights to occupy the property as it is the marital home.

If she wants to stay in the house and take over the mortgage then this will probably have to be done with the lender's consent and the ex then transferring ownership to her.

As the details provided suggest this is unlikely to happen amicably it is legal advice she needs as dealing with the home/mortgage and other assets will probably need to be dealt with as part of any divorce/court proceedings. If the ex won't play ball then it would be a court order she needs to force the changes through I suspect.