House repossessed due to council tax debt

MsBWIL

Hi there

I moved out of the family home (which is mortgaged) 8 years ago and divorced my ex wife 6 years ago. There were some council tax arrears when I left but the council put a charging order on the property so as far as I was concerned that was sorted out, Since I left my ex refused to pay any council tax. I have now received a letter stating she is going to be evicted from the property and it is going to be repossessed and sold. I am reluctant to get involved in trying to stop the proceedings as I will inevitably end up having to pay council tax for a property I don't live in as she will still refuse to pay, 

My question is, does anyone know what happens to the money which is left over after all the debts are paid? If it goes to my ex wife I will never see a penny of it. My children are grown so they are not part of the equation. The council obviously knows I am part owner as they wrote to me about the eviction. Do they have a duty to pay half to each of us or is there another process they need to adhere to? I have tried to contact the council to explain the process to me but they are being decidedly vague about the whole thing and I can't get a straight answer.

Thanks for any advice you can give.

Pixie5740

MsBWIL said:

Hi there

I moved out of the family home (which is mortgaged) 8 years ago and divorced my ex wife 6 years ago. There were some council tax arrears when I left but the council put a charging order on the property so as far as I was concerned that was sorted out, Since I left my ex refused to pay any council tax. I have now received a letter stating she is going to be evicted from the property and it is going to be repossessed and sold. I am reluctant to get involved in trying to stop the proceedings as I will inevitably end up having to pay council tax for a property I don't live in as she will still refuse to pay, 

My question is, does anyone know what happens to the money which is left over after all the debts are paid? If it goes to my ex wife I will never see a penny of it. My children are grown so they are not part of the equation. The council obviously knows I am part owner as they wrote to me about the eviction. Do they have a duty to pay half to each of us or is there another process they need to adhere to? I have tried to contact the council to explain the process to me but they are being decidedly vague about the whole thing and I can't get a straight answer.

Thanks for any advice you can give.

Who is the letter regarding the eviction from? Surely it’s not the council themselves that will be evicting your ex-wife but that as a creditor will be forcing her into bankruptcy which will be dealt with by a court who will appoint an official receiver to make sure all her creditors are paid. The council won’t be distributing any funds left over so won’t be able to help you. 

When you got divorced was there a financial order saying what was to happen with any marital assets and liabilities? 

EssexHebridean

OK - so in spite of the divorce you have retained the house as a joint asset, is that the case?

I'm going to assume as you haven't said otherwise that you have been continuing to pay your share of the mortgage. If you hold the house as "Joint Tenants" then any money left over should be split equally between you - BUT equally, any shortfall, should there be any, would also most likely be shared in the same way. If you hold the house as "Tenants in Common in equal shares" the same thing should apply. If you hold the property as "Held on trust in the following shares" then that might mean for example that you own 75% of the property with your wife owning the other 25% - this often occurs when one party brings a large deposit to a transaction - for example a previously owned property which has been sold to create the deposit, or an inheritance.  In that instance the shares would hold sway.

if you have NOT been continuing to pay the mortgage, then that will muddy the waters as there is a good chance that your ex wife would make a claim for a greater share of the property - that would be one for the lawyers to sort out. In any event, I'd suggest that seeing a family law solicitor would be a good thing for you to do - as it sounds as though there was no financial arrangements made when the divorce was done? 

You are sure that it is only the council tax she's been refusing to pay? An eviction sounds a lot more like she has defaulted on the mortgage, too. 

CIS

The council cannot repossess a house. The council could get the charging order and then try to force a sale.

It's far more likely that it's actually the bank, rather than the council, taking action.

fatbelly

The council cannot repossess a house. The council could get the charging order and then try to force a sale.

 If that has happened (and I've never seen this in practice) then they are at the stage of a court hearing where the judge would consider an order for sale.

This is unlikely to succeed if anyone raises any objection. Most judges would see the debt as secured and see it as disproportionate to force a sale for a small debt particularly if anyone was living there

There's some info about the process here

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/fact-sheet-library/charging-orders-ew/

CIS

fatbelly said:

The council cannot repossess a house. The council could get the charging order and then try to force a sale.

 If that has happened (and I've never seen this in practice) then they are at the stage of a court hearing where the judge would consider an order for sale.

This is unlikely to succeed if anyone raises any objection. Most judges would see the debt as secured and see it as disproportionate to force a sale for a small debt particularly if anyone was living there

There's some info about the process here

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/fact-sheet-library/charging-orders-ew/

Oh, I agree. It is unlikely that a sale would be forced where they are resident, from a charging order for council tax.

Craig

enthusiasticsaver

If the property is mortgaged then the mortgage will need to be repaid first and I am guessing if there are council tax arrears there are probably also mortgage arrears.  So if the council has a charging order it will be mortgage, council and if there are any remaining funds then it should be split between you.  If the council has managed to force a sale the council tax arrears must be high. If there are 8 years worth it is perfectly possible that the council has got an order for sale but in most matrimonial disputes (if this is what this was where you did not sort out the finances amicably between you) there may also be mortgage arrears.  Do you know what the situation is  with the mortgage? 

flipflopflo

@fatbelly @sourcrates would it be a good idea for the OP to get hold of all 3 of his credit reports and see if anything is on it considering he is still linked to his ex through the mortgage. 

fatbelly

There's no harm in doing that. While the joint mortgage exists he will be financially linked but once that is gone he should do a notice of disassociation for all three agencies

sourcrates

If she`s not been paying council tax, then its rather likely the rest of the bills, inc the mortgage may have been neglected too.

It will be the first charge owner doing the repossession, the CT has been secured by a CO, so they will be second in line, then any other`s with an interest will get into line also.

If, there are any funds left after the sale, assuming it goes to that stage, if the house is in joint names, then I assume the proceeds will be split, but that may not be the case.

If this is how things pan out, it would be in your interests to let the first charge owner know you are divorced, so that, if there are funds left, they are split between you.

flipflopflo

This is a link to Martin’s CRA guide @MsBWIL. 

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/check-free-credit-report/