Buying an Ex out - rights

Anonym2020

Hi all

Could really do with a litte help

Situation:

Ive split up with my ex after 10+ years (not married/ no kids). We pruchased a house apprx 4 years ago which is jointly owned

She moved out of the house over a year ago & has since not contributed to the mortgage or bills

I have remained in the property, covering all bills (she cannot afford to take the house on)

The plan is to do a transfer of equity & buy her out. The goal posts have been moved a number of times by her but we have finally agreed (again...) another buy out figure after obtaining several house valuations

The mortgage fixed rate term is due to end in a few months at which point my fixed rate becomes a variable & my payments shoot through the roof so my aim is to have this all resolved by that point. It has been confirmed that i am able to borrow the amount i require so the intention is to remortgage & my ex will be paid off by my savings.

I am just awaitng my agreement in principal from the mortgage provider & then i will instruct my solicitors to issue the relevant paperwork for the transfer of equity

If all goes well in a few months i will pay her off, have the house in my name with a new mortgage in my name - done...

However, the longer this goes on the more unreasonable she is being hence i have a few queries:

- Can she force a sale; from what i understand she can take me to court where the options are to force a sale OR transfer of equity. Would i be correct in assuming that, given the circumstances- i.e. she cant afford the house & i can - that a court would likley take the later route & insist on a share of equity?

- Can she move back in - i have changed the main lock as it failed. I havent provided her with a key as, given she has been out of the property for over a year,  i didnt want her to be able to drop round when i was out/ have access to my belongings or indeed when im at home with my new partner. She has on a few occassions implied that she is unhappy with her current living situation & is able to simply move back in as its 'half her house'...is this correct or, considering she moved out so long ago & doesnt contribute to the mortgage/ bills do i have any right to refuse her access? (note; 95% of her belongings were taken the day she left, she has a few small possessions here if its relevant. She has recently mentioned that she wants them back to which i responded say absolutley fine, i will get them ready but she bascially said 'do not touch them, i want to access the house & get them myelf'...im dubious about this as its potentially a ploy to gain access for whatever reason)

- If she pulls out of the transfer of equity - what are my next steps? Obviously my current mortgage will switch to variable leaving me with large mortgage payments each month which i understand i will just have to take on the chin but, can i then try to force a share of equity so i can get the house in my name/ remortgage & move on with my life?

Im currently on egg shells in my own home worried that she is going to turn up out the blue or even worse, with her bags wanting to move back in

If it works out perfectly then the above advice may not be required but i can see this going sour. I will of course seek proffesional advice if needs be but for now i was hoping to get a few pointers here to help me preempt my next steps

Any advice would be hugely appreciated, ive covered alot so even if its just advice relating to one part - this is stressfull!!!!

Thanks

greatcrested

Yes she can force a sale via courts - very expensive and (at present!) very slow. Court would probably require either a market value sale, or transfer of equity to you at market value.

She (jointly) owns the property. She can move in. If necessary she could get a locksmith to give her access.

How much rent are you paying her, given that you are benefitting from use of the entire property?

If she backs out, you can do the same as her: force a sale via the courts. See above. But better to offer to pay her a bit more and avoid court costs!

If your fixed deal expres and things drag on, shop around for a deal that has minimal early redemption penalties - rate wouldbe less than standard variable rate, and costs as low as possible if/when you get things resolved.

Comms69

Anonym2020 said:

Hi all

Could really do with a litte help

Situation:

Ive split up with my ex after 10+ years (not married/ no kids). We pruchased a house apprx 4 years ago which is jointly owned

She moved out of the house over a year ago & has since not contributed to the mortgage or bills

I have remained in the property, covering all bills (she cannot afford to take the house on) 

The plan is to do a transfer of equity & buy her out. The goal posts have been moved a number of times by her but we have finally agreed (again...) another buy out figure after obtaining several house valuations

The mortgage fixed rate term is due to end in a few months at which point my fixed rate becomes a variable & my payments shoot through the roof so my aim is to have this all resolved by that point. It has been confirmed that i am able to borrow the amount i require so the intention is to remortgage & my ex will be paid off by my savings.

I am just awaitng my agreement in principal from the mortgage provider & then i will instruct my solicitors to issue the relevant paperwork for the transfer of equity

If all goes well in a few months i will pay her off, have the house in my name with a new mortgage in my name - done...

However, the longer this goes on the more unreasonable she is being hence i have a few queries:

- Can she force a sale; from what i understand she can take me to court where the options are to force a sale OR transfer of equity. Would i be correct in assuming that, given the circumstances- i.e. she cant afford the house & i can - that a court would likley take the later route & insist on a share of equity?

- Can she move back in - i have changed the main lock as it failed. I havent provided her with a key as, given she has been out of the property for over a year,  i didnt want her to be able to drop round when i was out/ have access to my belongings or indeed when im at home with my new partner. She has on a few occassions implied that she is unhappy with her current living situation & is able to simply move back in as its 'half her house'...is this correct or, considering she moved out so long ago & doesnt contribute to the mortgage/ bills do i have any right to refuse her access? (note; 95% of her belongings were taken the day she left, she has a few small possessions here if its relevant. She has recently mentioned that she wants them back to which i responded say absolutley fine, i will get them ready but she bascially said 'do not touch them, i want to access the house & get them myelf'...im dubious about this as its potentially a ploy to gain access for whatever reason)

- If she pulls out of the transfer of equity - what are my next steps? Obviously my current mortgage will switch to variable leaving me with large mortgage payments each month which i understand i will just have to take on the chin but, can i then try to force a share of equity so i can get the house in my name/ remortgage & move on with my life?

Im currently on egg shells in my own home worried that she is going to turn up out the blue or even worse, with her bags wanting to move back in

If it works out perfectly then the above advice may not be required but i can see this going sour. I will of course seek proffesional advice if needs be but for now i was hoping to get a few pointers here to help me preempt my next steps

Any advice would be hugely appreciated, ive covered alot so even if its just advice relating to one part - this is stressfull!!!!

Thanks

Well they're your bills, why would she bill liable for your bills?
Given that interest rates are at their lowest, well frankly, ever. Why would your mortgage shoot up? 
She could force a sale, if things weren't progressing. They are, so court wouldnt be interested. (it would also cost her thousands in legal fees)
Yes she can move back in today if she chooses. You cannot refuse her access. AND she can actually insist your partner leaves.

Anonym2020

Thanks for the reply

With regards to the amount im paying her - we have had valuations, taken an average selling cost to determine the equity & then im essenitally paying her half of said equity. This started off lower as we initially agreed we would split the equity based on the house value when she left...which has since increased hence weve had new valuations & i have increased the amount im going to pay her (i wasnt sure if this was unreasonable given that she hasnt contributed for over a year however i just want it over hence ive up'ed my offer)

Ref rent - i am not paying her anything. I have essentially taken on all bills/ mortgage etc. Should i be covering ALL outgoings & paying her rent??

So ultimatley its stale mate if she pulls out of the transfer of equity - one of us then needs to start court proceedings?

Point regarding her moving back in is noted.....& worrying : (

Comms69

Anonym2020 said:

Thanks for the reply

With regards to the amount im paying her - we have had valuations, taken an average selling cost to determine the equity & then im essenitally paying her half of said equity. This started off lower as we initially agreed we would split the equity based on the house value when she left...which has since increased hence weve had new valuations & i have increased the amount im going to pay her (i wasnt sure if this was unreasonable given that she hasnt contributed for over a year however i just want it over hence ive up'ed my offer)

Ref rent - i am not paying her anything. I have essentially taken on all bills/ mortgage etc. Should i be covering ALL outgoings & paying her rent??

So ultimatley its stale mate if she pulls out of the transfer of equity - one of us then needs to start court proceedings?

Point regarding her moving back in is noted.....& worrying : (

You could argue that the rent you're paying her is her share of the mortgage.

The bills are yours and yours alone - seriously stop going on about her not paying for you to have heat on. 

Anonym2020

Let me get one thing clear- im living here so i accept that the bills are my responsibility. At no point have i requeted that she contribute! The reason i am making a point of mentioning this is because i thought it MIGHT of been relevant after some of the info i researched indicated it may. Im not trying to get money out of her for the mortgage or the bills - the reason i mentioned it on my reply was in counter to the 'rent' comment......

Anonym2020

Oh & greatcrested- quick one regarding you comment about getting another mortgage temporarily with a low buy out option - can this be done without her agreeing?

& comms69 - my mortgage goes from under 1.9% to over 5% once the current fixed rate ends hence, in an ideal world i would like to resolve before my mortgage increases by circa £400 p/month

Comms69

Anonym2020 said:

Let me get one thing clear- im living here so i accept that the bills are my responsibility. At no point have i requeted that she contribute! The reason i am making a point of mentioning this is because i thought it MIGHT of been relevant after some of the info i researched indicated it may. Im not trying to get money out of her for the mortgage or the bills - the reason i mentioned it on my reply was in counter to the 'rent' comment......

I'm not having a go at you, i understand the confusion. I'm just trying to be clear that the bills are irrelevant. 
As i said the rent aspect could be argued against your paying her share of the mortgage, so cancels eachother out.

Anonym2020 said:

Oh & greatcrested- quick one regarding you comment about getting another mortgage temporarily with a low buy out option - can this be done without her agreeing?

& comms69 - my mortgage goes from under 1.9% to over 5% once the current fixed rate ends hence, in an ideal world i would like to resolve before my mortgage increases by circa £400 p/month

Sure. That is quite a jump. It sounds like a fairly hefty mortgage.

Anonym2020

Thanks comms
Agree with your point ref bill/ mortgage compensating rent 

& ref the mortgage... yes, it’s large 
I thought long & hard about selling given the financial commitment of keeping the house however I love it.... call me sentimental 

greatcrested

Anonym2020 said:

Oh & greatcrested- quick one regarding you comment about getting another mortgage temporarily with a low buy out option - can this be done without her agreeing?

& comms69 - my mortgage goes from under 1.9% to over 5% once the current fixed rate ends hence, in an ideal world i would like to resolve before my mortgage increases by circa £400 p/month

As the property is jointly owned and jointly mortgaged, no new mortgage can be taken out, and no transfer of ownership can take place, without either her agreement, or a court order.

When the current fixed deal expires it will automatically become a standard variablerate mortgage. I believe even moving with the same lender to a new product (eg a cheap 2 year fix) would require the signitures of both mortgagees.

xylophone

AND she can actually insist your partner leaves.

I wonder if that is the case. Janet and John own a house. John's friend comes to stay.

It's John's house as much as it's Janet's - can Janet order John's friend to leave?