Joint mortgage shortfall ex refuses to pay vsok credit file help

Family_minded1990

Hi everyone, I have another thread on mortgage help however I am also looking for credit file information, does anyone know what happens to credit file if keys handed back to bank as this house may not sell. 

Original post -

I'm dealing with a horrible situation and would be very grateful for any help or advice please! My partner left an unpleasant relationship over 15 years ago, never married and believed he had signed over the flat to his ex. 2 years ago he received a demand letter to our house stating large arrears/repossession likely and our world imploded! 

Contact was made and the ex assured him this was in hand. In the meantime we lost a house we had almost bought as the arrears hit his credit file. We were unable to buy property or even get credit since! The ex failed to secure the mortgage in their own name, despite us paying off the arrears for them. 

We sought legal advice and didn't want to raise division and sale as we assumed the ex was living there and she portrayed being desperate to keep the property. The ex never got the mortgage but recently advised their circumstances had changed.  They are on benefits and believed the flat should go for sale. They completely stopped paying the mortgage and this is being paid by us! We eventually got access and the property is distressed, we also found mail to a third party and we are sure she has been renting it out all this time! 

A sale would need to be approved by both parties and will lead to a large shortfall.....which she has pinned on us, explaining to the bank she is on benefits and requesting to hand back her keys! We believe the easiest way to resolve the situation would be to put the flat up for auction and we have already paid for the home report (in Scotland) with the bank hopefully being able to make a plan on shortfall with us. 

I have several questions around what is best to do under these circumstances. What if they don't agree to sale? Is there action we can take against them? Are the banks generally okay with dealing with shortfall and would this be us that would pay as the ex has set the scene for their financial difficulty ( whether true or not)? Lastly is handing back the keys ever a decent outcome as the stress is so high we just want this to be over? Thanks so much for reading 

TheAble

Just to establish some facts initially:

1. The flat is still jointly owned by your partner and his ex?

2. The mortgage is still in the joint names of your partner and his ex?

3. Your partner has not been contributing to the mortgage for the last 15 years?

Family_minded1990

Thank you, 1. Yes, 2. Yes 3. Paid arrears 2 years ago of 1.5k and paying monthly for an empty flat for last 3 months. 

MSE_ForumTeam5

Hi - our rules ask for threads and posts not to be duplicated across boards, so we'll close this one, and people can respond in the ongoing thread.