Mortgage Shortfall

biffbaff64

What are my rights concerning my property right now? My mortage was around £55k, and I've managed to pay off £44,393. Obviously I'm left with a shortfall of £15,491 fater interest and charges etc.The mortgage period has ended and I'm trying to come to an agreement with Barclays over the remainder. The house is in extremely poor condition, I'm disabled and financially struggling. The house is in Joint names, myself and my wife.
We're considering transferring ownership to me to enable equity release to clear the amount owing and fix the place up. I'm due an inheritance at some point in the next 18 months which will see me financially secure and, until then, we'd like to keep this house to fix up and rent out. We know that houses in this area are earning £900+ monthly in rent.
What are my rights concerning, well, anything to do with this to be honest?

MWT

The lender holds the cards in this situation, they are the ones with rights, rather than you unfortunately.

They do not want to repossess, especially if the property is in poor condition and in your circumstances the optics are poor as well, but if you can't offer them a credible alternative then you will leave them no choice.

Re the equity release route, even if you get the ownership transferred into your name only, a property in 'extremely poor condition' may not meet the criteria of the lenders in the equity release market as they place a good deal of emphasis on the property being in good repair and easily saleable.

With only your name on the property and equity release in your name only, your wife would need to sign a waiver of her right to reside and in the unfortunate event of your untimely demise she would have to settle the equity release loan or vacate the property so it could be sold.

With regard to the potential inheritance, not wishing to be blunt, but are you waiting for someone to die, or is this a complex probate matter that is just taking a while to resolve?

The problem in the first instance is that wills can be changed at any moment, so a potential inheritance really isn't worth much when it comes to convincing the lender you will be able to pay next year but not this year...

Even if it is the second instance, probate can drag on a long time and the outcome can be very different to your expectations, so again not really a reliable option for the bank.

How much would you say the house was worth in its current state?

Thrugelmir

biffbaff64 said:

What are my rights concerning my property right now?

You've defaulted on the legal contract that you entered into when accepting the mortgage offer. Due to the breach the lender is able to seek the remedies as laid out in the contract. The solution you need to find is how to repay the remaining debt as promptly as possible. As the lender holds all the cards. Additional charges maybe incurred as well. As the lender will seek to recoup the time and expense that they are now spending on administering the deliquent account.