Help... being forced to sell my flat and cost me thousands

joeyb1989

Hi Guys,

Me and my ex bought a flat 6 months ago. Unfortunately, she has decided to leave, I wont go into details.

We had a 5 year fixed mortgage so have 4 and a half years remaining, which incurs a BIG early repayment fee of around 8k.

We own a flat as the free holders too, 25 percent each, 50 percent total with upstairs flat who own the other 50 percent. We are tenants in common.

Because of the big fees, we agreed that she move out I have a lodger in which will cover her half of the mortgage. He has been in for 2 months so far and we was originally planning at least a year because of fees etc. However, she has now turned around and said she wants to sell now and is immediately threatening to take me to court without any discussion on the matter.

I also put 15k deposit down and she put 10k down and has stated that as we have no deed of trust she will be taking 50 percent of the sale proceeds.

We need some minor work done after we started a job and she is not willing to give me time or help with costs to do it up myself (as if I'm being forced to sell I want my flat looking the best it can).

If I say no to selling what route does that mean with the courts?
Would I have to pay the legal fees if I am ordered to sell my flat?

I understand this is the end goal as we need to cut ties, I'm just upset I'm going to be losing my extra 5k deposit and being forced to pay a lot of fees out of my share of the equity so early on. I cant buy her out as we only purchased it 6 months ago and have no money to do so.

Any help and advice how I should handle this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

AnotherJoe

Get on and sell it, and be done with all financial ties. Forget about the work if she's not susceptible to the logical argument that (say) £1k work will add £5k to the price you get. Or if £1k work will only pay back somewhere between £0-£1k forget about it anyway

sal_III

If you don't have deed of trust she is entitled to her 50% share of the profit from the sale, regardless of how the deposit was split.

If you go to court you will both spend a fortune on solicitor fees. And at the end of the day she is likely to win, she has the right to demand the sale of a property she owns 50%. Not worth it.

Sucks about the ERC, but take the hit and move on. The alternative is years of misery and financial ties with estranged person, nothing good will come out of it.

Hopefully, lessons learned for next time. Deed of trust, no lengthy mortgage deals etc.

Mortgage_Adviser

Could you afford to buy her out at the expense of reducing the equty in the property to a minimum 95%? In other words would the bank you are with allow for her to be removed and for you to go to 95% LTV? If so, would the money raised be sufficient to buy her out?

Doozergirl

I had a friend years ago who bought with a girlfriend. She left him and he kept hold of the flat, renting it out, dealing with tenants, paying for upgrades etc. He was bitter that she was entitled to half that he wouldn't sell it. In the meantime, the value went up and up.

He eventually sold and she got half, despite not being in contact and having nothing to do with the admin. He is STILL bitter that she got half.

He really should have sold up at the time and invested in something that was all his own and been able to benefit financially from that, but he didn't want her to gain initially.

You're in a similar situation. Imagine another 5 years of being financially tied, your credit rating s being affected by each other, your having to look after the place and then having to give her potentially even more.

Cut your losses now and you'll be emotionally and financially free from her, if a little lighter in the pocket for a while.

It's a lesson to be learned.

I wonder if you could persuade her that you'll make things easy if she is reasonable and doesn't insist on that £5k being split. The court case will cost you both more than the £2.5k each in many ways.

AdrianC

joeyb1989 wrote: »

However, she has now turned around and said she wants to sell now and is immediately threatening to take me to court without any discussion on the matter.

She has just as much right to want to sell now as you have to not want to - you are joint owners.

If the state of your relationship means that you can't sit down and have a sensible discussion, is there a mutual friend who you both trust, who can help you come to an agreement?

joeyb1989

Thanks for the replies.

@Mortage_Adviser
I wouldn't be able to take the mortgage on myself unfortunately nor get a guarantor.

I want to cut ties etc as it's best to move on etc although I'm going to lose a lot of money.

Is it correct that if she takes me to court and wins I would have to pay all the legal costs out of my share of equity?

Would I be contacted from her solicitors before hand or just recieve a order from the court to comply with the sale?

I just find it unreasonable that'll I'll have to do all the leg work (viewings, talking with solicitors, work at the flat like I did when purchasing the property) whilst she does nothing but force me to sell and take half my deposit.

Definitely lessons learnt I guess...

spadoosh

joeyb1989 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

@Mortage_Adviser
I wouldn't be able to take the mortgage on myself unfortunately nor get a guarantor.

I want to cut ties etc as it's best to move on etc although I'm going to lose a lot of money.

Is it correct that if she takes me to court and wins I would have to pay all the legal costs out of my share of equity?

Would I be contacted from her solicitors before hand or just recieve a order from the court to comply with the sale?

I just find it unreasonable that'll I'll have to do all the leg work (viewings, talking with solicitors, work at the flat like I did when purchasing the property) whilst she does nothing but force me to sell and take half my deposit.

Definitely lessons learnt I guess...

There will be no compulsion on you to do all or any of the work. Tell her to market the property.

skint_chick

You won't lose all of your £5,000 extra deposit, just half of it. As you're tenants in common was it a 50/50 split or did you having an additional £5k mean a different split was recorded- worth checking with the solicitor who did the legals if you don't have a copy of the paperwork. If you only have £25k equity with £8k of early repayment fees and solicitor and legal costs to be deducted before you split any proceeds then you're already losing money, so why let her take you to court. Why not sell it ASAP and be done with the process and your ties to her? The only benefit to dragging out the process is if you think prices will rise enough to cover your costs over the next year or so - and then that means if you want to buy somewhere else for yourself those prices will have risen too.

AnotherJoe

joeyb1989 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

@Mortage_Adviser
I wouldn't be able to take the mortgage on myself unfortunately nor get a guarantor.

I want to cut ties etc as it's best to move on etc although I'm going to lose a lot of money.

Is it correct that if she takes me to court and wins I would have to pay all the legal costs out of my share of equity?

Would I be contacted from her solicitors before hand or just recieve a order from the court to comply with the sale?

I just find it unreasonable that'll I'll have to do all the leg work (viewings, talking with solicitors, work at the flat like I did when purchasing the property) whilst she does nothing but force me to sell and take half my deposit.

Definitely lessons learnt I guess...

You need to split this into two parts.
1. Selling. Yes she can force you to sell and yes she would likely win costs. Don't fight it.
Note though as part owner she also will need to speak with solicitors etc, you can't just get on and do it all yourself.
2. Splitting the proceeds. IANAL but I reckon after only 6 months you have a chance to get back your £15k vs her £10k . You could challenge that legally. You may or may not win and you may or may not get costs.

sal_III

joeyb1989 wrote: »

Is it correct that if she takes me to court and wins I would have to pay all the legal costs out of my share of equity?

Would I be contacted from her solicitors before hand or just recieve a order from the court to comply with the sale?

I just find it unreasonable that'll I'll have to do all the leg work (viewings, talking with solicitors, work at the flat like I did when purchasing the property) whilst she does nothing but force me to sell and take half my deposit.

Definitely lessons learnt I guess...

There is no "if", she will win, as there are no mitigating circumstances (that you have mentioned) like minor living with you or medical conditions that wouldn't' allow you to leave the property. Losing money on mortgage ERC or due to market conditions is not a reason for the court to refuse her.

You don't have to do the leg work yourself - if she wants to sell, ask her to market the property and deal whit the sale process. Or pay someone to do it.