Can ex rent out our jointly owned property without my permission

laurajinx

Hi,

I have been trying to convince my ex to sell our house for the last 7 years!! We've not been together for 7 years have never been married but have an 8 year old daughter together. When we split he didn't want to leave the house and so I moved with our daughter back in to my parents.

He has never wanted to sell and I can't come off the mortgage as he doesn't work so can't get a mortgage on his own.

He lived in the house for just under a year but then moved in to his dad's. As far as I was aware he was letting a friend or 2 live there and they were covering the mortgage.

I have found out I can apply for a order of sale to force the sale which I was looking into the other day. While looking online I came across our property being rented out through an estate agent and has been for 6 years to different tenants who neither of us know.

I contacted the mortgage company and they had no idea it was being let out and said we are in breach as we do not have a btl mortgage or consent from them.
I contacted the letting agent who said they had no idea it was jointly owned and they sent me a copy if the current tenancy agreement showing his signature as 'the landlord'. I then asked for all tenancy agreements and she said if i want them i have to pay £50 plus VAT as it was alot of work for them!!!!????? Unreal! She also told me that she had spoken to my ex who assured her I did know........ I didn't!!!!

I don't want half the rent or anything like that so it's not to do with money.

I want to know - are the letting agents supposed to have permission and a signature from all owners before letting a property out?
How do I go about getting the tenants out of my house?

Thanks for any help or advice!!

AdrianC

I think you've probably done the two most positive things to help get the tenants out asap - let the lender know, and let the agent know. But if the property's currently being advertised for rent, I presume the current tenants are moving out anyway?

The agent should have asked for proof of consent to let from your ex when he first started letting the property, but he may have just lied on the paperwork and they never bothered checking up.

As for the future - yes, get the place sold. So long as you're on the mortgage and the deeds, you are just as responsible as he is for if the mortgage falls into arrears.

Smi1er

If you have tried to convince your Ex to sell for 7 years then TBH you haven't tried too hard.


You can force a sale through but expect it to take 12 months and plenty of £££££'s.


Why do you think the Agency asking for £50+VAT is unreal? I think it's quite reasonable.


It will allow you to calculate what he owes you from rent collected, and if you don't want it then put it away for your daughter or go on holiday with it.


Personally I would confront him and tell him you want half the profits.


When it does sell you'll get half the equity.

NICHOLAS_2

Were you paying anything towards the mortgage during that 7 years? If not, then i would be happy that it was being let and paid for...

The mortgage is going to go up now anyway because once they find it's being let they up the mortgage rate by 1% usually.

Is there equity in the place? If i was him, not working and living with parents i would want it sold so i could get some money..

timbo58

Probably still worth paying the £50+vat, although if I had been paying ALL of the mortgage I would want ALL of the rent collected.

I wish you luck.

G_M

Write (yes, a letter) to the agents, enclosing a copy of the property Title deed (£3 from the Land registry here) showing you jointly own and stating

* you do not consent to the property being let
* the mortgage lender has not granted Consent To Let

Pay the £50 fee (it's trivial) and request full details of all tenancies, and all rental income, and all fees.

That should stop the agents in their tracks and put your ex on notice that he needs to discuss the future of the property with you.

laurajinx

Thanks everyone for all your comments and advice.

I have been a single mum for those 7yrs of trying to get him to sell and tried very hard. Like you say forcing a sale costs alot of £££££ and when your a single mum who gets zero from the dad every £ counts so I didn't have the money to pay out for this. Now however I do and so looked into this as an option and am happy to go ahead with this. I have an apt with solicitor Thursday to speak about this so fingers crossed!

The advert I saw on the Internet was from 2010 so I rang the lettings agent who said they had been letting it out since 2009. Neither me nor him were paying the mortgage as I believed his friend was paying it and living there.

I don't like that the mortgage co have no idea and that theres contracts in place etc and any insturances will be void.

I find the £50 plus vat unreal as surely they are in the wrong having let the house out without both owners consent and so should be bending over backwards to rectify this. Not accusing me of knowing it was being let out because my ex told them so. When I first rang she was shocked and told me he had initially told them be was the sole owner and now that's Changed to him telling them i was aware. Strange.

Thanks again and I'll pay the £50 and take all to my solicitor on Thursday and get the ball rolling.

Thanks :-)

AdrianC

laurajinx wrote: »

Neither me nor him were paying the mortgage as I believed his friend was paying it and living there.

SOMEBODY must have been paying it, else it'd have been repossessed years ago. The tenants won't have been paying it directly.

Are you sure it's your ex that's renting it, not his "mate" on the sly?

chanz4

laurajinx wrote: »

Thanks everyone for all your comments and advice.

I have been a single mum for those 7yrs of trying to get him to sell and tried very hard. Like you say forcing a sale costs alot of £££££ and when your a single mum who gets zero from the dad every £ counts so I didn't have the money to pay out for this. Now however I do and so looked into this as an option and am happy to go ahead with this. I have an apt with solicitor Thursday to speak about this so fingers crossed!

The advert I saw on the Internet was from 2010 so I rang the lettings agent who said they had been letting it out since 2009. Neither me nor him were paying the mortgage as I believed his friend was paying it and living there.

I don't like that the mortgage co have no idea and that theres contracts in place etc and any insturances will be void.

I find the £50 plus vat unreal as surely they are in the wrong having let the house out without both owners consent and so should be bending over backwards to rectify this. Not accusing me of knowing it was being let out because my ex told them so. When I first rang she was shocked and told me he had initially told them be was the sole owner and now that's Changed to him telling them i was aware. Strange.

Thanks again and I'll pay the £50 and take all to my solicitor on Thursday and get the ball rolling.

Thanks :-)

Ask you sol, but don't think they would need both permission

agrinnall

I wouldn't pay £50 + VAT, I would make a Subject Access Request, for which the maximum charge is £10. It may not be strictly applicable in this circumstance but the LA have got themselves in a deep hole and they may be prepared to accept the request rather than keep digging.

jjlandlord

The LA does not hold any personal information about OP, unless she starts providing them with such info, so £10 for a SAR would just get her a nice letter stating exactly that.

In fact, I'm surprised that the LA didn't refuse point blank to provide the requested documents on the basis of Data Protection and client confidentiality.
That said, they do seem a bit dodgy...