Buy to let property and divorce

mrsw1968

My ex husband and I divorced 4 years ago. We have a buy to let mortgage with 8 years remaining. My ex husbands brother has lived in the property for the last 5 years and since the divorce pays the rent over to my ex husband cash in hand. I have not been in a position to challenge this until now, for fear of reprisal. The mortgage on the property is £120 per month and the rental income is £500 per month.
How can I get the tenant to pay half of the rent to me? Is there anything a solicitor can do to help? I have no objection to paying my half of the mortgage and would still have some rental income left over?

Any advice is much appreciated.

Guest101

How was the property split in your divorce?????

mrsw1968

The property was not part of the divorce. The divorce went through but we didn't complete a financial settlement because my ex husband was unresponsive.

Argghhh

are you paying half the mortgage still ?

G_M

mrsw1968 wrote: »

The property was not part of the divorce. The divorce went through but we didn't complete a financial settlement because my ex husband was unresponsive.

????????????// So when your ex-husband failed to respond, what did the court decide?

* You could write to the tenant demanding he pay the rent to you. Good luck there.
* You could write to the tenant demanding he pay half the rent to you. Good luck there.
* You could start court proceedings to force the sale of the property. Hope you have lots of patience, and deep pockets.
* you could contact HRC and report your ex for tax evasion (he is almost certainly not decalring the income). Ex may end up in court, but you'll get nothing.
* you could threaten to contact HRC and report your ex for tax evasion. Hmmm....
* you could serve a S21 Notice on the tenant giving him 2 months notice, and then start possession proceedings (either of two joint landlords can do this)

well, that's off the top of my head....

mrsw1968

No. The mortgage is paid by my ex out of his account from the rent.

mrsw1968

When he failed to respond I was advised that I would need to take it through the courts which would cost me upwards of £15k money I simply did not have at the time so I could not do it. I should add that we didn't have any other assets to split at the time as we lived in rented accommodation.

mrsw1968

If I serve an S21 notice can my ex do anything to stop it?

Pixie5740

How is serving a Section 21 going to help your situation?

Do you own the property with your ex husband as tenant in common or joint tenants?

G_M

A S21 if successful will ultimately see the tenant evicted.

Ex-husband loses the income ad is forced to come to the table to discuss the future. Or maybe he installs another tenant of course.

Though OP could move in on the day the tenant leaves, thus preventing re-letting.

I'm not advocating this, just thowing it out as one of the (limited) options.

mrsw1968

Pixie5740 wrote: »

How is serving a Section 21 going to help your situation.

Do you own the property with your ex husband as tenant in common or joint tenants?

We are joint tenants.