Advice Needed! Can I get rid of ex partners charges on my house?

Tink5711

2004 I bought a house with my then long term partner - a year later he left having run up £7500 worth of dept which was placed against the property.

He has never made a mortgage payment and I have kept up to date with all payments - aswell as a joint account dept than he ran up to almost £3000 without my knowing.

I'm now in a position with a new partner and two children where I want to move on and either buy my existing property with my new partner (something we are now only financially able to do) or ideally sell and move on.

What I really need advice on is there anyway I can get these depts transferred to my ex (since he's never made a mortgage payment and I have the evidence) or will I need to pay them? Do these people only accept the full amout if this is the case or would a sum be acceptable? It send so unfair that I'm still liable if this is the case and would be grateful of some advice x

Talc1234

Sounds like you and your ex jointly own the house which means that his creditors won't remove the charges. This also means that you both are entitled to 50% of any surplus after sale and nobody cares who paid the mortgage. You may be able to negotiate a partial settlement if you have sufficient money for an immediate payment. Seek legal advice.

Tink5711

Do you know if creditors accept a % of what is owed? For example he owes 1500 to a cc - if I were to offer 500 what's the chances of it being accepted? X

Guest101

Tink5711 wrote: »

Do you know if creditors accept a % of what is owed? For example he owes 1500 to a cc - if I were to offer 500 what's the chances of it being accepted? X

Very small as the debt is secured against a valuable asset.

You realise you can't sell unless ex agrees right? So not only is he/she getting 50% but also the debts paid off. Also you're financially linked, so these debts ( I'm unsure if these were secured loans or CCJs) will affect you too.

specialboy

The only way you can buy the house you are in is to make a deal with your ex, this may involve settling his debt, the other option is to sell the house and pay the charge off but this too will need his cooperation.

silvercar

If a debt was registered against the property then it suggests that your ex has very little spare cash to clear it. It is relatively rare for companies to go through the hassle of this. Are you sure that it is registered as a debt and not (just) that the company need to be notified if a sale should occur. Sometimes the latter occurs because it is less hard to secure for the company and they assume (sometimes wrongly) that on sale the debtor would have money to clear the charge.

Getting your ex to agree to the sale and how much of the proceeds you should retain may prove harder than clearing the debt. You can go to court to enforce a sale if necessary.

Tink5711

Ex has agreed to sign anything in order to sell and is not interested in any equity when the house is sold. I'm going to get some legal advice today

kingstreet

I agree with SC.

If these are sole debts and a jointly owned property, the creditors can place only a restriction over the property, not a charge.

More here;-

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1839539

Tink5711

I've looked into the charges and there is one charge order and a restriction (the link made for very interesting reading!). I have briefly spoke to a solicitor - am awaiting a face to face to enquire further - but impression I was given was that I can take this to court and have them lifted as they should never of been placed in the first place and especially as I have never signed anything to take responsibility. I need to research further as there is so much conflicting advice. For one I think if I were to take it to court it may turn out more expensive than the original dept! Am I right I thinking that a restriction means that if the property were to be sold the solicitor would be duty bound to inform the creditor that placed the restriction, then the creditor has to apply before the 'signing' to get their sum? And if they are not successful they miss out but the restriction is still against the property so the new owners have to write and inform the land registry of the new occupancy? Sorry it's just all so confusing and desperately trying to get my head around it x

Land_Registry

You mention 'one charge order and a restriction' but it will be important to know exactly what is registered, wording with personal names/details removed

kingstreet has linked you to the thread on charging orders and you may find it helpful to post the details there.

One thing to bear in mind is that a charging order against a joint owner can be registered as a restriction against the title so I am not too sure that the advice 'should never of been placed in the first place and especially as I have never signed anything to take responsibility' would necessarily apply but we don't know the exact details so difficult for anyone on here to be sure.

And if there is a 'charge' do you mean a Registered Charge or something else? A registered charge is quite different to any other form of charge and affords the lender more powers. However a registered charge would not have been secured against the property by your ex alone as it would have needed both of you to complete and execute it in the same way you would for example with a mortgage.