Mortgage help

[mike9009]

A dilemma from a friend - which I could not give any sensible advice to....

My friend bought a house with her partner two years ago. They have since split up. Her boyfriend is now living in the house and paying the mortgage. When they first split up, the bank would not allow the boyfriend to go solo on the mortgage due to his earning power. This was over six months ago. Now my friend is wanting to be free of the mortgage to allow her to either buy in the future or eradicate the possibility of getting a poor credit rating should the boyfriend fall into arrears. (quite likely by all accounts!)

However the boyfriend is being uncooperative and not communicating with the bank or her. Two weeks ago he had his 'new' partner move into the house with a child.

How can my friend proceed to get her name removed from the mortgage?


Thanks


Mike

[essayer]

Who owns the house? Tenants in common or joint tenants?
My first thought would be that he needs to buy her share of the house from her..

[Claudia Skies]

Amongst other things your friend needs to be worried about more than just her credit rating. If the former boyfriend doesn't pay the mortgage she is still liable and, if he's living in the house with his new family, may have considerable difficulty getting him out to sell the house.

Your friend needs to talk to a solicitor soonest.

The real world solutions are either,

• One of them buys out the other, or
• The house is sold and proceeds of sale divided on some fair basis between them.

[Sarnie]

mike9009 said:

A dilemma from a friend - which I could not give any sensible advice to....

My friend bought a house with her partner two years ago. They have since split up. Her boyfriend is now living in the house and paying the mortgage. When they first split up, the bank would not allow the boyfriend to go solo on the mortgage due to his earning power. This was over six months ago. Now my friend is wanting to be free of the mortgage to allow her to either buy in the future or eradicate the possibility of getting a poor credit rating should the boyfriend fall into arrears. (quite likely by all accounts!)

However the boyfriend is being uncooperative and not communicating with the bank or her. Two weeks ago he had his 'new' partner move into the house with a child.

How can my friend proceed to get her name removed from the mortgage?


Thanks


Mike

The only way of getting off the mortgage is for the current lender to assess the boyfriend as an individual. They won't allow their risk to be increased if they feel that removing you would increase the chances of this account falling in to arrears.

If they said no six months ago, I can't imagine they would say yes now, depending on the reason for the initial decision.

Only other option is to sell...........but if he's not co-operating a forced sale might be neccessary but would be a long, laborious, stressful and expensive process!

[mike9009]

Can she contact the bank directly about the situation and whether they will transfer the mortgage to just his name? I don't mean change it herself, but proactively getting the ball rolling so the boyfriend 'just' has to sign papers to transfer?

Or,

Write an email to him, stating that she will get a solicitor involved within the next seven days if he cannot agree to a meeting with the bank to transfer.


I suspect that he is scared that the bank will not approve the mortgage, even though he has demonstrated he has been paying it individually for the last six months.

The house is new build - and I suspect they are in negative equity.

Thanks

Mike

Edited by mike9009 on Wednesday 11th February 19:13

[Sarnie]

mike9009 said:

Can she contact the bank directly about the situation and whether they will transfer the mortgage to just his name? I don't mean change it herself, but proactively getting the ball rolling so the boyfriend 'just' has to sign papers to transfer?

Or,

Write an email to him, stating that she will get a solicitor involved within the next seven days if he cannot agree to a meeting with the bank to transfer.


I suspect that he is scared that the bank will not approve the mortgage, even though he has demonstrated he has been paying it individually for the last six months.

The house is new build - and I suspect they are in negative equity.

Thanks

Mike

Edited by mike9009 on Wednesday 11th February 19:13

It's not just a simple case to both parties saying yes and signing a piece of paper. The lender will assess the BF as an individual and he will in essence has to reapply for the mortgage he already has. So they will assess his income, credit history, employment details, credit commitments etc. Simply stating that "I've paid it no problem for six months already" isn't going to cut it. The new MMR rules that came into effect last year may mean that what they were accepted for previously, they may not be now, especially with only one party now instead of two.

[glm1977]

Also the transfer of equity needs to be completed legally by a solicitor with the land registry. This is dependent on the mortgage provider giving the nod that all is ok.

So there is added expense in regards to the solicitor to action the transfer.

[mjb1]

If the ex bf can't take over the mortgage in his name only (depends on his income basically, has it increased substantially since they assessed him 6 months ago?), the only hope is that the lender will allow her to swop places with his new gf. So the new partner goes onto the mortgage. Then it will depend on her income being sufficient.

My missus had this years ago when she split up with her previous partner. They had 125% mortgage (less than a year into it), and it was just as the credit crunch was starting. She moved out, he stayed and promptly moved in his new gf. She'd only just started a new job and the lender wouldn't consider her joining the mortgage until she'd been employed for over 6 months.

Due to it being a new 125% mortgage they were clearly in substantial negative equity (and the extra 25% had been spent on refitting the house and paying off his debts). So my missus was over a barrel - either force the sale and have to take on half the debt, or wait patiently in the hope that she would be able to get off the mortgage/title and that the ex kept on paying it in the meantime. Luckily it worked out ok eventually.

[Stevemr]

She needs to move back in!

[barker22]

I think your friend thinks it is simply a case of removing her name as she no longer lives there, it really isn't as simple as that.

[anonymous-user]

barker22 said:

I think your friend thinks it is simply a case of removing her name as she no longer lives there, it really isn't as simple as that.

Amazing how many people enter into these arrangements with absolutely no understanding of the consequences.

[Claudia Skies]

Claudia Skies said:

Your friend needs to talk to a solicitor soonest.

Bump