Forcing a house sale

LittleMi

27 February 2017 11:30
Hi My ex partner and I bought a house as...
Hi
My ex partner and I bought a house as joint tenants approx 15 years ago. We lived at the property together for approx 5 years. We are not married and have no children. He put 21k down as a deposit. He paid more each month as he earned 35k and i then earned 15k. We split approx 10 yrs ago now andI remained in the property. Ever since he left (he now lives in Thailand and is married to a Thai and has a child) he has not contributed a single penny. The mortgage is interest only and 182000 was left to pay off and we bought for 210000. The house is now valued between 360000 to 400000 last year. Ever since we split we have had 2 lodgers who cover the cost of the interest only mortgage each month and I have paid all the bills and insurances and maintenance. We have nothing written to define who would get what in the event of a split. He has contacted me twice to ask me to sell but i have refused as initially he asked for the 21k deposit back, plus the interest it would of incurred over the last 10 years and a 70/30 split of the sale proceeds in his favour after the mortgage had been repaid. Since then he has requested the 21k deposit and a 60/40 split in his favour. I have refused. I countered with a 50/50 split and his 21k back and he refused. - We had a verbal agreement about him receiving the 21k back in the event of a split but as he has contributed nil in the last 10 years and not refunded 2 lodgers their deposits and after they paid into his account he let the mortgage default and i repaid it back £50 per month as I was then a full time student. Since then the mortgage comes out of my account and the lodgers pay me as he was untrustworty. I am now wanting to go to court to force a sale. What are my chances, how much would it cost using a solicitor and how long would it take and what am i likely to receive?
Kind regards

G_M

So correct me if I'm wrong:

* he paid the initial deposit - you paid nothing
* he paid a larger propertion of the mortgage than you while you were together
* you have lived there since he left, rent and mortgage free (lodgers pay the mortgage) - he has received none of the rent (other than as a conduit to pay the mortgage for your free home)
* you have paid your living costs (electricity, insurance etc) at the property. He has paid his own living costs elsewhere
* the property has increased in value by £150K or more since purchase

Seems to me it was reasonable for him to want to release this equity.
As to the precise share-out, he is not being unreasonable, and has been prepared to negotiate, but you refused.

He then put pressure on you (presumably hoping you would become more reasonable and negotiate a split on sale) by stopping mortage payments. Understandably you ensured the mortgage continued to be paid by taking control of the lodger income.

So - you both seem to want to sell. Thus using the courts to force a sale is mad, and expensive. You'll both lose massively.

You need to come to a more equitable ageement on who gets how much.

LittleMi

Thank you for your reply. Its good to have an outsiders view as it helps put things into perspective. I don't wish to be unfair and I will contact him again and ask him to state what he thinks is a fair split. If anyone else has any opinions/ ideas on how I should proceed I would be grateful to hear them.
Kind regards

MyOnlyPost

Agree with GM. The rent from tenants is legally a joint income to be split 50/50 as you are both named on the deed to house. Therefore your ex has been paying the mortgage by using his half of the income from these tenants.

steeeb

Were the difference in earnings due to working part time due to looking after children? (Do you have a child together?).

His 21k deposit could be seen as 10% equity, now worth 36-40k.

To me, only having the facts that have been stated here - returning him 21k and 50% of the remaining equity doesn't seem fair. It should *probably* be more like 36-40k for his deposit and something more like the 60 or 70% of the remaining equity he mentions - but again, I don't have all the facts and you could be leaving something vital out.

In any case, as others have said - get this agreement tied down in writing in some kind of official way - then sell the house (sounds like you also want this?), get the solicitor to split the proceeds as agreed and both move on with your lives with full financial separation.

Offer: Giving him his 21k deposit back plus 60% of the proceeds after mortgage repaid, solicitor/estate agent fees etc. That's you coming off very well in my opinion. - As this sounds like the last offer he was willing to accept.

LittleMi

Thank you for your input, it is really helpful to have as much information as possible to enable me to make a realistic and fair decision.