Getting a lodger when join own the house with ex

soysauce1245

Lysimache wrote: »

Are you able to afford to buy his share out?

Yes i can afford it, luckily

Lysimache

If he refuses, advise him if you have to go to court, that will just cost him money in the long-run as the court will just force a sale. It won't look kindly on an obstructive co-landlord (unless he has kids in the house).

Comms69

Lysimache wrote: »

If he refuses, advise him if you have to go to court, that will just cost him money in the long-run as the court will just force a sale. It won't look kindly on an obstructive co-landlord (unless he has kids in the house).

Actually in most cases each side would pay their own costs. He has an investment and wanted to hold on to it is very rarely seen as obstructive.

saajan_12

soysauce1245 wrote: »

Hi All,

I'm wondering if anyone can help. Myself and my ex split up. We own a property together and he moved out and I remained in the house. He hasn't contributed to the mortgage, or paid any of the home insurance or maintenance costs (my bathroom was leaking into my living room) since he moved out. - unfortunately you're jointly responsible for mortgage / repairs etc, so while you're welcome to do repairs to your home at your cost, the only way to make ex liable / share costs is to have an agreement with him beforehand.

I'm currently trying to get him to agree to me buying him out - he can't afford to buy me out. He is currently refusing. Instead, he wishes to continue joint owning the house for another few years as he believes it will be worth more then. - maybe, but after years of paying interest too! Can you offer him a greater share of the equity now? Not fair i agree, but forcing a sale to you/on the open market would be very expensive through courts, costing you even more of yoru equity.

In the mean time, I've been looking for a lodger to help support me paying for the mortgage and have found one. Great! But now I don't know if I need to get my ex to sign the lodger agreement as well as me? If i don't, could he technically evict my lodger at any point? - I wouldn't recommend a long fixed term for a lodger, as you'd be living in close quarters so don't want to be locked in if you fall out. So by signing the agreement, you (or ex) could evict "lodger" at any point. I say " " because the person would be ex's tenant not lodger, as ex doesn't live in the property.

Also - would the money the lodger is paying me count as his half of the mortgage? - if you have a lodger in your home, without ex on the agreement, that's your income. Separately, you + ex may have an agreement to each pay half the mortgage. But presumably that would entail you each having use of the house. If you're using his 'half' of the house by having a lodger, ex could argue you breached your agreeemnt with him, so he doesn't have to pay half the mortgage. Or whatever else you negotiate.. So if he does eventually agree, I would have to pay him the capital on the property despite him not paying the mortgage himself? - Sale proceeds is separate - the default would be 50/50 unless you have an agreement otherwise. I don't mind doing this, but I don't want to give him another incentive to refuse me buying him out.

BOTTOM LINE:
1. You can have a lodger and keep the income.

2. As far as the lender is concerned, you + ex have a joint responsibility to pay the mortgage.

3. Between you + ex, you could have a separate (verbal) agreement to pay half the mortgage each and have use of half the house each. Or whoever has full use of the house (by living there with lodger) should pay the full mortgage. Or whatever you agree.
---> If you don't agree, you'll end up paying everything or the lender will repossess and sell, likely eating up all your equity.

4. Between you + ex, you could have a separate (verbal) agreeemnt to split sale proceeds 50/50. Or according to how much deposit+mortgage capital you contributed ie split at first then just you). Or according to how much use you had of the house. Or whatever you agree.
---> If you don't agree, you'll likely lose all your equity to court costs.

If you're willing to live with a lodger and this is feasible (ie 2 bedrooms) then I'd try to find a lodger asap, to help you pay the full mortgage. That way you're not out the full mortgage payments from your salary, with the least fuss/risk of repossession. Assuming you contributed equallly to deposits and mortgage until your separation, I'd split sale proceeds 50/50. That way, your share reflects how much of the deposit / mortgage you've paid from your salary, with the least fuss.