Mortgage with a criminal

Slayerx

I really didn't know where to put this post and this something I'm posting to try get a friend some help. 

She has mortgage with her ex they have a child together he hasn't live at the property for about 10 years and he has a second property that he also has a mortgage on.

He was recently convicted. 

My friend has decided she wants him off the mortgage and the deeds but he is refusing to sign any legal documents. 

The only tie he has to her is they have a younger daughter together. 

She appointed a conveyancing firm to carryout out a transfer of equity and made them aware of the somewhat sensative situation. 

They took on the case only to after a few months back track and admit they couldn't deal with her case.

She is finding it hard to get anyone to take her case on and he is refusing to sign documents or get legal representation of anykind. 

Surely this is something that is sadly common place does anyone know where she goes next to get help? 

user1977

His criminal record doesn't make any difference to the process. The conveyancers can't do a transfer of equity if the other party isn't cooperating. The only solution in that case would be to go to court (or threaten to, and hope that makes him see sense). So she just needs a different type of solicitor, rather than the ones who process transactions which everybody is happy to proceed with.

propertyrental

Property is in joint names, so cannot be sold without consent of both parties.
Transferring ownership from joint to a single name would likewise require consent of both parties (+ the mortgage lender).
Nothing a conveyancer can do alter those facts. 

The only alternative is to apply for  court order. Time-consuming and potentially expensive, but the court could order the ex to sell or transfer.

Best option is to persuade the ex to cooperate, perhaps by offering a sweetener (eg £X).

The fact that he's a criminal has no bearing on the matter.

EssexHebridean

Could you ask your friend whether she would be happy if it were that easy a process if her ex instructed a solicitor to do a TofE to transfer the whole property into his name? I suspect she would not. 

chrisw

A court could order the ex to sell, but he wouldn't have to sell to her. The court usually orders it to be sold on the open market and the proceeds split.

GDB2222

You say that this is an ex-. Is that an ex-husband, and there’s been a divorce? Or a former partner, and there’s been no formal agreement about assets. 

I assume the latter, in which case he quite possibly still owns half the equity, and there’s no obvious reason for him to give that up without a fight. A full blown lawsuit could cost say £100k between both parties, so it is obviously worth trying to reach an agreement out of court, but that would have to be an agreement that is fair to both parties. 

If he has recently been convicted, he may have housing issues, and he may have to move back into the house he owns. Not immediately, if he is in jail, but on release.

_Penny_Dreadful

chrisw said:

A court could order the ex to sell, but he wouldn't have to sell to her. The court usually orders it to be sold on the open market and the proceeds split.

Not if one party is able and willing to pay the going rate for the other person's share of the property.  Plus if one party drags their heels over selling, be that on the open market or being bought out, then the court can rule that the legal costs be deducted from the heel dragger's share of the equity.

SadieO

Why does him committing a crime mean his ex gets to take his half of the property off him?

 Slayerx said:

he is refusing to sign documents or get legal representation of anykind. 

Why should he though? 

_Penny_Dreadful

Slayerx said:

I really didn't know where to put this post and this something I'm posting to try get a friend some help. 

She has mortgage with her ex they have a child together he hasn't live at the property for about 10 years and he has a second property that he also has a mortgage on.

He was recently convicted. 

My friend has decided she wants him off the mortgage and the deeds but he is refusing to sign any legal documents. 

The only tie he has to her is they have a younger daughter together. 

She appointed a conveyancing firm to carryout out a transfer of equity and made them aware of the somewhat sensative situation. 

They took on the case only to after a few months back track and admit they couldn't deal with her case.

She is finding it hard to get anyone to take her case on and he is refusing to sign documents or get legal representation of anykind. 

Surely this is something that is sadly common place does anyone know where she goes next to get help? 

Your friend has jumped the gun by trying to get the ex's share of the equity transferred to her.  @GDB2222 asks an important question about the ex being an ex husband or just an ex partner.  With an ex-husband that would imply there was a divorce and as part of the divorce there should have been a financial settlement which would detail what was to be done with the matrimonial home.  I suspect though the ex is an ex-partner in which case if the ex-partner does not agree to be bought out of the property your friend will need to apply to a court to force the sale/buy-out using section 15 of Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996.  Forcing a sale can be expensive and while the court can award legal costs to come out of the ex's share of the equity if the court finds the ex is being deliberately obstinate it is not a given.  Mediation would be less expensive than court so I'd recommend that first if possible.

Something else to consider is how the property is currently owned, joint tenants or tenants in common.  With the former should one of the joint owners die then the surviving owner automatically becomes the sole owner of the property so if the property is owned as joint tenants then your friend may want to consider severing the joint tenancy...just in case.

I wouldn't be surprised if the ex is legally due some of the equity.  He may not have lived there for the past 10 years but he has remained jointly and severally liable for the mortgage all this time so unless there is some legal document such as a Deed of Trust saying otherwise your friend should expect to pay the ex something for his share.

GDB2222

The OP's friend is not the first person to face significant problems, having kicked the can down the road for many years.  There’s a lesson for others reading this thread, namely the jointly owned assets need to be sorted out when the partnership breaks down, not years later.

Slayerx

Thank you for all replies

They weren't married and she couldnt afford until recently going full time to take on the mortgage In her own name. 

This was prior to his conviction and he refused at that point to engage with a transfer of equity. 

The house is held in joint tenants.

He is also a home owner with his current partner. 

Could see look to go down a family court route as he is inside for approx 10 years.