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Refusing to sell after divorce
kate199164
Posts: 19 Forumite
Hi, looking for some insight please.
My partner's divorce from his ex wife was filed 6 years ago and finalised 5 years ago after their marriage ended more than 7 years ago now. She was incensed by his being the one to apply and has been extraordinarily difficult ever since. Contact since he filed for divorce has been through his solicitor only, which she ignores. She has no solicitor. They have no children and the only asset is their jointly owned property. It should have been very straightforward.
During divorce proceedings she moved the mortgage payments from their joint account to her personal account without his knowledge, stopped taking his half that he was putting into the joint account for the mortgage and let out the property on a 6 tenancy against his clear and specific wishes I August 2015. The mortgage is paid from the let and she pockets the excess. My partner issued a section 21 notice as she refused to do so at the end of 2015 to the tenants, giving them 60 days notice up to the end of their lease so as for the property to become vacant for sale, as directed in the divorce papers, and not to be leased again. Ex wife instructed them to ignore it and has been renewing their lease on a rolling basis ever since. The tenants are still in the property to this day and he cannot gain access as she listed herself as sole landlord. This suits her down to the ground as somebody else is paying her mortgage whilst the equity grows. She just so happens to be a letting agent, incase that's relevant.
She ignored the divorce - the deemed service person said she put the papers in the bin as soon as they were handed over. It went ahead and he was awarded a 50/50 split of everything as a result, with the house to be sold and proceeds divided. She ignored it. Mediation was put forward to proceed towards getting rid of the house, she ignored it. She ignored the instruction from the solicitor to either buy him out or sell the property. Since then...nothing.
He has kept an eye on things over time to ensure she hasn't tried to put in new tenants, put it on the market etc. His solicitor retired from the firm just before covid hit and his case was handed to a new solicitor, but nothing seems to be going anywhere.
With almost 10 years of mortgage payments now having gone into it and increased house prices, there is now significantly more equity in the property and he wants it gone ASAP as he has had enough - we have two young children together and his equity shouldn't still be tied up after all this time because of her. Our question is, what do we do about this?
My partner's divorce from his ex wife was filed 6 years ago and finalised 5 years ago after their marriage ended more than 7 years ago now. She was incensed by his being the one to apply and has been extraordinarily difficult ever since. Contact since he filed for divorce has been through his solicitor only, which she ignores. She has no solicitor. They have no children and the only asset is their jointly owned property. It should have been very straightforward.
During divorce proceedings she moved the mortgage payments from their joint account to her personal account without his knowledge, stopped taking his half that he was putting into the joint account for the mortgage and let out the property on a 6 tenancy against his clear and specific wishes I August 2015. The mortgage is paid from the let and she pockets the excess. My partner issued a section 21 notice as she refused to do so at the end of 2015 to the tenants, giving them 60 days notice up to the end of their lease so as for the property to become vacant for sale, as directed in the divorce papers, and not to be leased again. Ex wife instructed them to ignore it and has been renewing their lease on a rolling basis ever since. The tenants are still in the property to this day and he cannot gain access as she listed herself as sole landlord. This suits her down to the ground as somebody else is paying her mortgage whilst the equity grows. She just so happens to be a letting agent, incase that's relevant.
She ignored the divorce - the deemed service person said she put the papers in the bin as soon as they were handed over. It went ahead and he was awarded a 50/50 split of everything as a result, with the house to be sold and proceeds divided. She ignored it. Mediation was put forward to proceed towards getting rid of the house, she ignored it. She ignored the instruction from the solicitor to either buy him out or sell the property. Since then...nothing.
He has kept an eye on things over time to ensure she hasn't tried to put in new tenants, put it on the market etc. His solicitor retired from the firm just before covid hit and his case was handed to a new solicitor, but nothing seems to be going anywhere.
With almost 10 years of mortgage payments now having gone into it and increased house prices, there is now significantly more equity in the property and he wants it gone ASAP as he has had enough - we have two young children together and his equity shouldn't still be tied up after all this time because of her. Our question is, what do we do about this?
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Comments
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If it were me, I would be taking her back to court.Your partner needs to get a new solicitor asap, and push to a court date.Breast Cancer Now 100 miles October 2022 100 / 100miles
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His best option is to get a new solicitor and see what the solicitor can suggest.
I can foresee problems if he tries to do anything to get the tenants out of the property. Tenants can get their landlord's fined if they haven't protected their deposits correctly, so unless he knows that their deposit is correctly protected, acting in any way that suggests he is their landlord (e.g. issuing S8 or S21 notices) could make it possible for him to be fined.
The comments I post are my personal opinion. While I try to check everything is correct before posting, I can and do make mistakes, so always try to check official information sources before relying on my posts.2 -
Properties can be sold with tenants in situ, so that might not be the trump card she may think it is.
But a banker, engaged at enormous expense,Had the whole of their cash in his care.
Lewis Carroll3 -
Unfortunately he can't sell without her permission as its 50/50 ownership and she won't engage.theoretica said:Properties can be sold with tenants in situ, so that might not be the trump card she may think it is.0 -
Well that’s why he needs a new solicitor who will start proceedings to force the property to be sold.kate199164 said:
Unfortunately he can't sell without her permission as its 50/50 ownership and she won't engage.theoretica said:Properties can be sold with tenants in situ, so that might not be the trump card she may think it is.
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tbh, it sounds like the only way this is going to get sorted is via her being forced by a court. Her not engaging is just her way of stringing it out as long as she can.
The first point is to engage a solicitor and for your partner to be clear that he is willing to go to court to get the house sold and proceeds split as per the divorce agreement. A solicitor letter stating that may be enough to at least get her to engage.4 -
I've seen cases where the court has signed the property transfer papers (TR1) on behalf of the spouse who refuses.kate199164 said:
Unfortunately he can't sell without her permission as its 50/50 ownership and she won't engage.theoretica said:Properties can be sold with tenants in situ, so that might not be the trump card she may think it is.
I'm not sure what's wrong with the existing solicitor, but your partner may need to give clear instructions (and be prepared for a very large bill, as well). The ex-wife needs to account for any profits she has received on the rental. As she probably won't, you need to budget for a forensic accountant, as well.No reliance should be placed on the above! Absolutely none, do you hear?3 -
Court action is very expensive to pursue. Most likely is the only route to resolve the issue. What's holding your partner back? The old solicitor would have talked through this option previously.3
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Nothing holding him back particularly. His previous solicitor had been in the process of attempting to engage her about the property when he retired and covid hit. It all seems to have gotten lost in translation since then with no move forward. His previous solicitor suggested that it could be done as part of his original fee but I'm unclear in that.Thrugelmir said:Court action is very expensive to pursue. Most likely is the only route to resolve the issue. What's holding your partner back? The old solicitor would have talked through this option previously.0 -
Looking back you have a previous thread regarding this situation in 2016.
At that point your partner and his ex were not divorced so how come the house was not sorted as part of the divorce which has happened since.
You also mention that he had only paid the solocitor £750 so its highly unlikely that is going to cover sorting this out.
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