Joint Mortgage Issues after Separation

TheBlueStreak

Hi All,

I am looking for advice to help out a friend who is stressed about the situation with her ex following a split over 6 years ago. They were not married but when they were together, they bought a house and are joint tenants on the mortgage and both listed on the deeds.

Following the split they both went their separate ways, he moved in with another partner and she rented privately. Since then the house has been sitting vacant so around 6 years.

My friend hasn't paid anything towards the mortgage since as she is only just managing with renting, and her ex goes months without paying anything but then pays a small lump sum. There are still overdue payments of around 8k.

This is proving stressful for my friend as she continues to receive letters from the lender chasing payment. Her ex is making it difficult to be contacted and is ignoring her calls\messages most of the time so the issue is not getting dealt with.

With regards to the property, her ex will not put it up for sale, rent it out or let it be repossessed (he seems to pay just enough to keep the mortgage going). He will not agree to her being removed from the deeds either.
He has also changed the locks so she doesn't even have access to the property.

Her ex is obviously a douche, and the fact they are financially linked, her credit score is also in tatters due to defaulting on the payments.
She just wants to be rid of the house, and any link to him so she can get on with her life. She isn't seeking cash from him to buy her out. She just wants to be off the deeds and mortgage.

I'm not sure which way she should turn so any advice appreciated. Thanks all

PeacefulWaters

She needs legal advice about forcing a sale.

She is jointly liable for the entire debt. The credit issues will hang over her for years.

tea_lover

She hasn't paid anything towards it for six years. He has (albeit not the full amount owed). So how is it all his fault?

Pixie5740

She's the legal owner of the property so she is legally entitled to enter it. A locksmith would be able to get in and replace the lock then she could live in the property instead of renting whilst forcing the sale.

They both have joint and several liability for the whole mortgage. When the mortgage is not paid the lender can come after either or both of them to recover the money. The ex can't just take her name off the mortgage. The mortgage account would have to be closed down by him (or her) getting a mortgage solely in his own name (tricky if there are mortgage arrears on his credit file) and effectively buying her out. The ex might be a douche but your friend really hasn't helped herself by burying her head in the sand for 6 years. If she had bothered to seek legal advice at the time she could have forced the sale by now.

If your friend ever hopes to buy another property in the future then she wants to avoid having this property repossessed.

TheBlueStreak

tea_lover wrote: »

She hasn't paid anything towards it for six years. He has (albeit not the full amount owed). So how is it all his fault?

Agree with you tea lover. He isn't entirely to blame and to be fair to him he has made these intermittent payments. Shes a struggling single mother so the chance of her paying anything towards the mortgage after she vacated diminished when she had to rent.
I guess its him being unreasonable about coming to an agreement which benefits both of them (e.g. letting it out) or refusing to be contacted which is the frustrating bit. It isn't doing either of them any good credit wise.

TheBlueStreak

Pixie5740 wrote: »

She's the legal owner of the property so she is legally entitled to enter it. A locksmith would be able to get in and replace the lock then she could live in the property instead of renting whilst forcing the sale.

They both have joint and several liability for the whole mortgage. When the mortgage is not paid the lender can come after either or both of them to recover the money. The ex can't just take her name off the mortgage. The mortgage account would have to be closed down by him (or her) getting a mortgage solely in his own name (tricky if there are mortgage arrears on his credit file) and effectively buying her out. The ex might be a douche but your friend really hasn't helped herself by burying her head in the sand for 6 years. If she had bothered to seek legal advice at the time she could have forced the sale by now.

If your friend ever hopes to buy another property in the future then she wants to avoid having this property repossessed.

Thanks Pixie, I'll ask her about the "locksmith" option. I don't know if she's considered that. I think she may have sought some "free" legal advice a while ago, but really cannot afford legal representation or to drag it through the courts to force the sale. I read this can be quite expensive!
I think she has been living in hope that her ex would come to his senses have a discussion about an option that benefits them both.

The most financially viable option it seems to me is to move back in, start paying the mortgage and slowly build her credit back up. Not sure how much rent she's paying ATM but if its more than the mortgage it's a no brainer.

Kynthia

She shouldn't have left dealing with the situation for so long. However I can understand how that happens. Legal advice on forcing a sale is best. She could also have rented out the property herself and used the rental income to pay the mortgage.

We're they married as if so the finance settlement of a divorce would include resolving this?

chesky

Were they married? Try reading the second line of the first post.
No, they weren't.

neneromanova

Why doesn't she move back into the property, and use the money she's been spending on rent on the mortgage instead?

peachyprice

As you now know, she can't just be 'off the deeds' the house has to be sold or re-mortgaged, which is highly unlikely to happen with arrears.

Begs the question, why on earth has she been paying a private landlord for 6 years when she has a house she should have been paying towards the mortgage on and could have been living in?

Even if she couldn't pay the whole mortgage paying something towards it by making arrangements for a reduced payment plan or interest only would have gone a long way to limiting the damage to her credit record, which she has effectively wrecked herself. Actually living there would also have given more sway in forcing a sale. Sticking her head in the sand has done her no favours at all.

Gigervamp

OP, was your friend named on the council tax there? If she was, she ought to find out if the ex has been paying that, because if he hasn't, she could be in serious trouble.