Ex won’t remortgage

ColinTB

I’m due to go on a variable rate in January with the Halifax. My mortgage payments will increase to unaffordable levels but my ex partner (joint mortgage) wants to get the house repossessed so I and our child (9) are forced to leave. Halifax need both signatures to allow me to fix a rate; I am living here perfectly legally but he’s refusing to co-sign. Do I have any options? 

Newbie_John

Joint mortgage, you both need to agree on the next step - if he wants to sell it and won't agree to next fixed term - then the cheapest option would be to do so, other options involving courts and lawyers may take a lot of money and time.

CSL0183

Very common problem when couples separate. You either go onto the SVR or you sell the house. 

The more you put into the house as you pay the mortgage down, the more he will be entitled too. 

If the child is his then he can’t force you to sell if you have a child under the age of 16 but he’s well within his rights not to sign upto another fixed rate mortgage with you. Ask yourself, why would he? He will presumably want to move on with his life so why would he sign upto another huge fixed financial obligation with you. 

It would be in your best interests to either patch it up with your ex or sell your home and move on with your life. 

silvercar

If you have the right to remain in the home until your child leaves school, then it is just bloody minded of him not to comply. Does he realise that his credit rating will be effected if you fall behind with payments and he does nothing to help?

ACG

They could quite easily be writing a post on this forum saying "ex wont sell house" (we do get those posts on here). 
If the lender needs both of your permission, then there is not much you can do short of going to court. 

Who is your current lender? Some lenders will allow you to take over the mortgage if you can prove you have been making the payments alone for 6 months and the other person is happy to come off the mortgage. 

But it would be best to sell up rather than incur a repossession, the court costs, arrears, and legal fees will all mount up and hammer your credit report. 

tightauldgit

ColinTB said:

I’m due to go on a variable rate in January with the Halifax. My mortgage payments will increase to unaffordable levels but my ex partner (joint mortgage) wants to get the house repossessed so I and our child (9) are forced to leave. Halifax need both signatures to allow me to fix a rate; I am living here perfectly legally but he’s refusing to co-sign. Do I have any options? 

If they can't be persuaded then the only path would be to ask a court to order them to do it - I'm not sure if that's something they would do but you can certainly ask them. It would take a while though and they may not do it.

Other than that maybe you could get a mortgage in your sole name but you'd probably still need ex to agree to it.

Have you got a financial order in place? If not seems like you really need to get things sorted. If you do what does it say about the house/mortgage? 

elsien

silvercar said:

If you have the right to remain in the home until your child leaves school, then it is just bloody minded of him not to comply. Does he realise that his credit rating will be effected if you fall behind with payments and he does nothing to help?

There isn’t a right to remain in the house until the child leaves school unless that’s been specifically agreed between the parties as part of a financial settlement.

And where does the comment that you can’t be forced to sell if you have a child under 16 come from? If whoever wrote that could post the relevant legislation that would be helpful.

From the alternative point of view, if the ex is needing to claim means tested benefits and has partial ownership in a house that they’re not using, or need to buy or rent somewhere themselves and fail affordability checks because of being named on the mortgage, they find themselves in a difficult position It’s not always down to sheer bloody-mindedness, and sometimes the only realistic option is to sell up.

Brie

silvercar said:

If you have the right to remain in the home until your child leaves school, then it is just bloody minded of him not to comply. Does he realise that his credit rating will be effected if you fall behind with payments and he does nothing to help?

He is falling behind in the payment as well as with his name on the mortgage it's also him that should be paying.  

I hope you had the place valued when he moved out and stopped paying so that there's a line in the sand.  (not that it may help but it might)

silvercar

some lenders allow remortgages to be booked online, in which case they should be allowed from one persons online account, as you don’t share online access to accounts.

silvercar

elsien said:

silvercar said:

If you have the right to remain in the home until your child leaves school, then it is just bloody minded of him not to comply. Does he realise that his credit rating will be effected if you fall behind with payments and he does nothing to help?

There isn’t a right to remain in the house until the child leaves school unless that’s been specifically agreed between the parties as part of a financial settlement.

And where does the comment that you can’t be forced to sell if you have a child under 16 come from? If whoever wrote that could post the relevant legislation that would be helpful.

From the alternative point of view, if the ex is needing to claim means tested benefits and has partial ownership in a house that they’re not using, or need to buy or rent somewhere themselves and fail affordability checks because of being named on the mortgage, they find themselves in a difficult position It’s not always down to sheer bloody-mindedness, and sometimes the only realistic option is to sell up.

That is normally what is agreed. The parent who stays in the home with the child(ren) often is allowed as part of the agreement to remain in the home until the child finished education. The financial settlement may require that the parent in the family home makes the mortgage payments, but if the non resident parent is named on the mortgage then they also have a liability to the lender for this payments. So both credit records would be trashed if payments weren’t made. 

Given that running two homes is more expensive than one, and presumably both parents want there to be sufficient money to bring up the children, it is sheer bloody mindedness to refuse a remortgage request that has no impact on the non resident parent other than leaving the ex with extra income, some of which will be spent on their child.

enthusiasticsaver

ColinTB said:

I’m due to go on a variable rate in January with the Halifax. My mortgage payments will increase to unaffordable levels but my ex partner (joint mortgage) wants to get the house repossessed so I and our child (9) are forced to leave. Halifax need both signatures to allow me to fix a rate; I am living here perfectly legally but he’s refusing to co-sign. Do I have any options? 

Unfortunately this is a common problem after marital breakdowns.  Hard to believe he wants the house to be repossessed though effectively leaving you and his child homeless.  Does he know that will ruin his chance of getting a mortgage anytime soon too?  If it is joint you are between  a rock and a hard place though as both signatures are needed to move to a new deal. Any chance of you taking it over yourself and effectively releasing him from it?