court order to force a sale

tas2011

If I successfully win a court order to sell a jointly owned property, will I be able to claim costs back from the other party?
Also does anybody know roughly how much it costs to obtain an order.

Keep_pedalling

It is going to be expensive and there is no guarantee that you will be awarded costs.

martindow

And if you do win and you are awarded costs, you then have to get them to pay up. If this person is currently living in the house they will not do anything to aid a sale. Feuding, divorcing partners can make selling houses almost impossible.



If you can come to some sort of agreement, even if you may get less than you feel you should, settling this without court action is what you should go for.

Slithery

It will probably run into 5 figures to force a sale and you may not be awarded costs.

diggingdude

best way to get a sale....move back in

tas2011

martindow wrote: »

And if you do win and you are awarded costs, you then have to get them to pay up. If this person is currently living in the house they will not do anything to aid a sale. Feuding, divorcing partners can make selling houses almost impossible.



If you can come to some sort of agreement, even if you may get less than you feel you should, settling this without court action is what you should go for.

Thanks for the reply. Don't think that's going to be possible now though.
Property has been empty for over 2 yrs and the other "tenant in common" agreed to sell his share to me but as soon as the transfer documents were sent to him he won't reply to either his own solicitors, my solicitors or to my direct emails.
To make matters worse the other "owner" also lives abroad too.

princeofpounds

Actually his presence abroad and unwillingness to communicate might make an order for sale practically easier to enforce.

It will cost thousands, but maybe not 5 figures if it is not contested effectively. You stand a reasonable chance of being awarded some costs if the other side has been grossly obstructive. Enforcement of a costs order may be especially hard against someone abroad, but you could try and get a charge on the property itself.

People here will be quite negative about the legal route because settlements do often end up an easier path. But the legal route is precisely there for when settlements are impossible.

tas2011

princeofpounds wrote: »

Actually his presence abroad and unwillingness to communicate might make an order for sale practically easier to enforce.

It will cost thousands, but maybe not 5 figures if it is not contested effectively. You stand a reasonable chance of being awarded some costs if the other side has been grossly obstructive. Enforcement of a costs order may be especially hard against someone abroad, but you could try and get a charge on the property itself.

People here will be quite negative about the legal route because settlements do often end up an easier path. But the legal route is precisely there for when settlements are impossible.

Thank you so much for taking the time to post.
Gives me a glimmer of hope in this mess.

davidmcn

princeofpounds wrote: »

People here will be quite negative about the legal route because settlements do often end up an easier path. But the legal route is precisely there for when settlements are impossible.

In practice I think the threat of court action encourages the reluctant party to reach a settlement (similar to most other legal disputes). Apart from the legal costs, I wouldn't expect the price achieved by a court-mandated sale to match a voluntary sale, it'll be more like a repossession.

Thrugelmir

Seek legal advice. You may find that the matter doesn't get as far as court once your ex realises the position that they are in.

Keep_pedalling

tas2011 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. Don't think that's going to be possible now though.
Property has been empty for over 2 yrs and the other "tenant in common" agreed to sell his share to me but as soon as the transfer documents were sent to him he won't reply to either his own solicitors, my solicitors or to my direct emails.
To make matters worse the other "owner" also lives abroad too.

The property being unoccupied should make the process easier and cheaper. According to this link the process if not too complicated and you can do at at least some of the work ourself.

https://www.howellslegal.co.uk/news/post/Applying-to-Court-for-an-Order-for-Sale

I would write to the joint owner asking them to complete the sale within 28 days or you will be applying to the courts to force the sale, and that the cost of court action will reduce the amount they will receive from the sale.

As they live abroad they have already lost money due to the pound being in a brexity freefall.