Possibly losing my house as can't get ex's name off the mortgage

Greguk123

Hi all, bit of advice please.  I am divorced, I stayed in the former marital home and bought my ex out.  We have a court ordered settlement which is all sorted other than it contains provision for my ex to force me to sell the house unless I can remove her name from the mortgage another way (eg remortgage in my name only).  There was a 2 year limit where she could not invoke that clause, but now she can.  She has indicated she wants her name removing so it's an immediate problem.  There is no more money due to her, just the uncoupling and removing of her name from my house.

The problems is over the last 3 years I have had cancer, 3 heart attacks and now have kidney failure.  Consequently my official income has dropped to around £6,000 a year.  Luckily I have family to help me with bills etc as well as the state assistance, so actually paying the mortgage (around £280/pcm) has not and will not be a problem.  I have paid it for the last 5 or so years, via   transferng the money each month to my ex.  I could prove this via bank statements.

The house is worth 100k and my mortgage is about 42k.   I could also get hold of £10,000 and if I remortgaged use that to reduce the mortgage to £32k.  So the good points is i have a very healthy loan to value amount. And I have excellent payment history no missed payments etc.  Bad news is I can't prove any sort of decent inome.

Can anyone help wiht suggestions?  I read this and thought something like this should be the right track, but who would understand and offer such a product?  Look forward to any ideas.  The simple way of selling the house and buying somewhere cheaper is not a good option for me with organ failure, I don't need that kind of upheval.

"

What the new FCA rules mean for you

New rules from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) aim to help you if you’re currently making your mortgage repayments but are stuck on expensive mortgages with your existing lender because you have difficulty passing another lenders affordability checks.

Lenders can choose to, but don’t have to, offer what’s called a “modified affordability assessment”. This allows lenders to choose not to apply certain affordability assessment rules. This might include not having to verify your income, consider your future changes in circumstances or apply the interest rate stress test subject to certain conditions.

To use the “modified affordability assessment”, lenders must show the new mortgage is at least more affordable than your present one, tell you how your affordability has been assessed and tell you about any potential risks.

Mortgage lenders can carry out a modified affordability assessment if you:

• have a current mortgage
• are up to date with mortgage payments
• have not missed a mortgage payment in the last 12 months
• do not have any unpaid fees or charges
• do not want to borrow more money (excluding fees associated with remortgaging)
• are looking to switch to a new mortgage deal on your current property."

warby68

I honestly think you will struggle as you aren't actually managing your bills, someone is helping you.
The only suggestion I can think of, and your relatively small mortgage might help here, is if you have family who would be willing to consider a private mortgage - they would have the security of your house and the terms could include some additional return in the future when the house is sold.
It isn't usual to recommend mixing money and family but sometimes there are good reasons.
Or if you are old enough to consider an equity release type arrangement - you would probably be trading the equity in the house for security of tenure but I can see it being worthwhile if you want to keep your home above all. No idea if you would qualify for one of these though, just an idea.
Its anything that's based on realising the equity in future rather than payment ability in the here and now.

blue_max_3

Are you over 55 and have a personal pension? Realise that is pretty specific, but helped me out of a hole once.

Greguk123

warby68 said:

I honestly think you will struggle as you aren't actually managing your bills, someone is helping you.
The only suggestion I can think of, and your relatively small mortgage might help here, is if you have family who would be willing to consider a private mortgage - they would have the security of your house and the terms could include some additional return in the future when the house is sold.
It isn't usual to recommend mixing money and family but sometimes there are good reasons.
Or if you are old enough to consider an equity release type arrangement - you would probably be trading the equity in the house for security of tenure but I can see it being worthwhile if you want to keep your home above all. No idea if you would qualify for one of these though, just an idea.
Its anything that's based on realising the equity in future rather than payment ability in the here and now.

Thanks for the reply, sadly I don't think the former is an option and I am 44 so I beliee too young for equity release.

Greguk123

blue_max_3 said:

Are you over 55 and have a personal pension? Realise that is pretty specific, but helped me out of a hole once.

Thanks for the reply, I am 44 and don't have a pension so I am afraid that's a dead end.

blue_max_3

Greguk123 said:

Thanks for the reply, I am 44 and don't have a pension so I am afraid that's a dead end.

Not to worry. Having to think of creative ideas here...
Might be a non-starter, but if you have a half decent relationship with your ex - can you come to some arrangement that she can loan you the shortfall and you can repay over time?

warby68

Sorry you're in such a tough situation
The simplest option is to actually tell your ex it isn't possible. If she wants to buy a property she might push hard. If it isn't urgent and she understands your situation she might accept the status quo for the time being. I know this only kicks the can down the road but in that period you could explore driving the mortgage down from whatever help you can muster and getting yourself on social housing lists and the radar of services related to your health so you might be in with a chance if and when it comes to a sale being forced. Apologies if I am assuming wrongly that your health is likely to be a long term issue.
None are overly palatable I know but I just can't see a new mortgage in your sole name being achievable right now. If it were already in your own name, your health would make you a vulnerable customer and with possible favourable consideration for concessions but the very same issues make it less likely that a lender would want to remove the other party.
Driving the debt down to something someone could take on unsecured in some shape or form is a reach but reaches are called for here I think.
Sensibly perhaps her agreement to revisit in 12m is what you actually need in the short term to concentrate on your health.

Thrugelmir

Your ex quite rightly wishes to move on with their life. Selling up and exploring alternative options seems your only route forward. 

MalMonroe

Thrugelmir said:

Your ex quite rightly wishes to move on with their life. Selling up and exploring alternative options seems your only route forward. 

How very unhelpful, especially when OP says, "The simple way of selling the house and buying somewhere cheaper is not a good option for me with organ failure, I don't need that kind of upheval."

[Deleted User]

I dont think you are maximising your income - as Im sure you could make a decent application for PIP ? ( personal independence payment ) if your health issues cause you to need helps managing your needs. Have a research about that ? Look on the disability forum 

Also about the £6000 - what is that ? Are you working a bit ? Have you looked at wether you could get universal credit -for old working tax credits  ? 

Punch all the numbers into the website “entitled to” and see if they suggest any claim possible 

I doubt you could over turn the Divorce consent order - such is rare with no minor children to consider 

Once you have maximised your income - take advice from a broker as they will know which company takes benefits into account 
Good Luck