Forced Sale after Tenants in Common mortgage

jwh1977

Hi - got a real bad situation with a relative and hoped you could offer some advice on how to resolve it.

Some years ago my mother entered an ill advised mortgage agreement with a friend and together they bought a property as Tenants in Common.

She paid for her half the property in cash with the proceeds of the sale of a former property under the understanding the remaining 50% mortgage would be paid for by her co-occupier.

The relationship between them has deteriorated seriously to the point that I fear for my mothers safety and she feels she may need to quite the property.

They had a condition of trust (I think that's what it's called) on drawing up the mortgage that either party could notify intention to sell with a 12 week notice period and the property would be sold with my mother receiving her investment back and the proceeds divided between settling the mortgage and any surplus split.

The problem is - it looks like the co-occupier has no intention of honouring this trust agreement.

My question is - what are the options?

Can my mother force a sale?

What happens if the co-occupier refuses to vacate the property?

In short how does my mum get out - I fear she hasn't the stomach to last it out in unpleasant circumstances and she also cannot afford to have no access to her investment.

Hope someone has some advise from a similar situation as it feels like she's not really got a hope unless she can reach some amicable agreement with her co-occupier which is looking highly unlikely.

xylophone

She should see a solicitor about obtaining an order for sale.

jwh1977

Thanks Xylaphone - I'm worried however that the co occupier will not cooperate with the forced sale and become a sitting tenant. Surely this works hugely devalue the property? The co occupier has switched to an interest only mortgage and I think they get it paid on welfare so they basically have very little to lose

pinkshoes

Has the property increased in value since the purchase?

jwh1977

Maybe by 20k or so if they are lucky but they have made a bit of a mess of the place to be honest.

getmore4less

Is the mortgage being paid?
what are the terms of the mortgage?
how long has it been running

They had a condition of trust (I think that's what it's called) on drawing up the mortgage that either party could notify intention to sell with a 12 week notice period and the property would be sold with my mother receiving her investment back and the proceeds divided between settling the mortgage and any surplus split.

Not idea but does not sound like it will be a big issue if there is not a lot of equity from rises

If she moves out that puts the balance of power with the occupier.

Forced sale won't be cheap a motivated sale would be a goal.

If she does not feel safe any mates/family that can assist with that potentially moving in.

a safety issue could be reported, plenty of cases on here where someone has been removed from a property by the courts and want to know how to get their share of the house back.

jwh1977

Well she is still stuck there now and we're just applying for a CCJ to obtain the right to conduct the sale. God knows how this nightmare will ever end! I'd be really interested to hear from anyone else whose been through this journey. I had another midnight phone call after the police were called over the last nights intimidation incident - basically shouting and screaming at my mum until she's shaking with fear bolted in her room.
I really really hope the law can protect her.

princeofpounds

Thanks for the update (original thread was from January)

In the meantime, she might like to consider an occupation order, to exclude her co-owner. I am not saying this will necessarily be possible, but if there is good evidence of abuse and threats then it may well be. If you haven't started, she should set up audio recording, at least in her own room. This can be done quite quickly.
https://www.gov.uk/injunction-domestic-violence/eligibility-occupation

By the way, you probably know this by now but if your mother leaves, the other owner does not become a sitting tenant. But you do risk losing physical control over the property and that can cause problems of its own.

I don't understand two points you make. One is that you need a CCJ to get an order for sale. That's not necessarily the case, unless you mean something slightly different to how I'm interpreting it.

The other is how the co-owner 'switched their mortgage to interest only' - if your mother co-owns the house, she should be a named party on the mortgage too, and this would not have been possible without her permission.