Daughter needs joint mortgage advice please help.

[Athlon]

Can anyone please advise my daughter on this problem?

Long story very short, she was in a relationship and they bought a house together to settle down in, however, he decided to play away. Now daughter was a touch upset to say the least but he moved out to stay at his mums.

The problem is he has rarely paid into the joint mortgage account so she has pretty much paid all the payments herself, the problem is she is now broke so asked him for some money towards the debt, he said no and is going to move back into the house as well, she is desperate to sell the house but he has said he needs to agree it and won't sell, nor will he help financially.

What are her rights? can she sell? can she apply to have her name off the mortgage and walk away from the house? (she has been told no) can she 'sell' her half to the bank?

She is in floods of tears and is getting desperate, she seems to be paying all the money and has no way of getting on with her life.

Thanks in advance for any sensible advice I can pass on.


p.s. no pics at this time, thumping him, nuking etc and kicking in back doors not an option for the moment, thanks

[Ungarsee]

First and foremost, your daughter needs legal advice rather than mortgage advice. The mortgage company will not be able to take sides in this as much as your daughter's ex is acting like a tt. Taking emotions to one side, they are both jointly liable for the debt so if payments are not made the normal process will be followed by the bank to get its money.

In my opinion your daughter should contact the mortgage company to explain the situation and ensure they record it somewhere. Next step should then be the legal advice but she could always start off with the Citizens Advice Bureau initially. I'd imagine any proof she has that she has been covering the majority of the mortgage would also help her case but I can't see it being straight forward if the ex stands his ground.

Option 2 would be the baseball bat

[Athlon]

Thanks for taking the time to reply, I agree it is going to be messy, I will cover her money wise to help her but it is such a shame that she is doing pretty well now but has this huge problem hanging over her

The bat is so bloody tempting but I fear it would go against her a touch..!

Solicitor next, she is going to a consult but as I said she is broke and may not take my offer, she is proud and independant, I had no idea where to post this, it would have been a P&P thread for max views but that option has gone.

Thanks again

[Ungarsee]

It might also be worth getting the payment switched to an account in her sole name as I'd imagine this may work in her favour from the legal side of things as no one could argue that he's contributed then. Also, if there is any money in the joint account make sure she clears it out and then advise the bank that they are in dispute and she wants to make it 2 to sign. That way he can't do anything on it without her knowledge.

To reduce outgoings mortgage company may be willing to switch payments to interest only whilst things are sorted out.

[Athlon]

"Also, if there is any money in the joint account make sure she clears it out and then advise the bank that they are in dispute and she wants to make it 2 to sign. That way he can't do anything on it without her knowledge"

Brilliant idea, thank you I will call her now regarding that one, thank you very much!

[Simian Dave]

Change the locks (today, right now) on the house to keep him out, at least for short while - once he's back in it will be much more difficult to sort out. Don't make this about keeping him out, just that the locks needed changing for a reason then just make it as hard as possible for him to get his set of keys.

Get proper legal advice.

She needs to tie up any financial connections they had ASAP - bank accounts, credit cards, savings, etc. Close them down. This may mean helping her pay off cards, etc. Don't let her keep all the money in shared savings, pay off the debts first then make sure anything left over is devided up - being amicable now could help later should it get messy and legal (which I doubt, but you never know) and should keep him from going a bit over the top about things.

Sort out all bills so they are in her name (again, start this today) - the less paper financial connections he has with the property the better.

Find out what the legal contract wording is on the deed - there's basically 2 ways to buy a property with multiple parties and depending on which one they used will dictate how much he can chase her for in capital gains.

[vinnie83]

Simply tell him she wants nothing to do with the house anymore, he's welcome to it and she wants a solicitor to arrange to have everything put into his name, or try to amicably agree to sell the house.

Otherwise explain to him that any arrears caused on the mortgage will be a big problem for him in the future,and that if she stops paying the mortgage then he will be chased for the money.

As for putting the mortgage onto interest only, it's a great idea in theory, but he will have to co-agree this with the mortgage company which it sounds like he won't do.

Just be careful and make sure you DO NOT pretend to be him in order to do that

I'm trying to think of any other way to help, but unfortunately this is more of a legal dispute than a mortgage / financial advice problem.

Sorry I couldn't be any more help

[V8mate]

Call estate agent.
Put house on market.
Sell it.

Doesn't matter whether there are two or twenty owners, as soon as one wants to sell the others are powerless to stop the sale unless they buy the protagonist out.

[Soovy]

Athlon said:

...........joint mortgage account............

Oh dear oh dear.

They are jointly liable for the mortgage. If there is equity, they sell and split. If the house is in negative equity, then they are jointly and severally liable (i.e mortgage company can get the whole lott of either of them or both of them as they see fit).

Tell her to go and see a Legal Aid Solicitor first thing tomorrow morning. THAT'S FIRST THING TOMORROW MORNING.

Doesn't matter a JOT that she's made all the payments. It's 50/50 from here on in. That's what a joint mortgage means (after all they were in love yadda yadda yadda.....)

[Athlon]

Cheers everyone, this is ongoing, he is now trying to see if he can take over the debt, she will walk away with nothing but no debt and right now I think she would be very happy with that.

Thanks again.

Edited by Athlon on Saturday 4th July 22:47

[Soovy]

Athlon said:

Cheers everyone, this is ongoing, he is now trying to see if he can take over the debt, she will walk away with nothing but no debt and right now I think she would be very happy with that.

Thanks again.

Edited by Athlon on Saturday 4th July 22:47

If she walks from this then she's had a result.

Next time learn the lessons that "joint mortgage" means "you each pay half or the deal is off".