Charge on House

[cf1958]

I am hoping someone can give some advice, a friend of mine bought a property jointly with his friend, it is currently up for sale (negative equity) his friend has moved to Spain they are not in arrears with the mortgage.

 

My friend has recently received a letter from another bank, not who the mortgage is with, stating that they have applied to the County Court for an order imposing a charge on the property of over £10k for a loan what the other joint mortgagee owes.

 

This has not been secured on the property and has nothing to do with my friend, he has tried to contact the Bank concerned to find out what it is all about and they refused to talk to him.

 

Can a bank put a charge on a property that is jointly owned, if so would my friend be liable to half of the £10k, as it stands now when the house is sold there will be around £8k negative equity.

 

Sorry for all questions this is an area that I know nothing about.

Ant help would be most appreciated.

[spiritgirl59]

Hi cf

 

I have bumped your post and am sure someone more in the know will be able to get back to you soon.

 

Meantime, and this is just my personal view as to what I would do in this situation, your friend should write to the bank who has issued a county court summons, send it by recorded delivery, and ask for details of the the bank's claim against the joint mortgagee.

 

Being a joint mortgagee with an interest in the property, IMO your friend should be entitled to know fully what is going on here as any decision relating to a charge on that property will affect both joint mortgagees when they sell the property.

 

Please post back if and when you need any further advice and I am sure someone else will see this and post.

 

Good luck

Love Spiritgirl x

[PriorityOne]

I am hoping someone can give some advice, a friend of mine bought a property jointly with his friend, it is currently up for sale (negative equity) his friend has moved to Spain they are not in arrears with the mortgage.

 

Is the friend easy to contact ?

 

My friend has recently received a letter from another bank, not who the mortgage is with, stating that they have applied to the County Court for an order imposing a charge on the property of over £10k for a loan what the other joint mortgagee owes.

 

Has he spoken to the friend in Spain about this ?

 

This has not been secured on the property and has nothing to do with my friend, he has tried to contact the Bank concerned to find out what it is all about and they refused to talk to him.

 

If the loan is not in his name, then the Bank will not discuss anything with him.

 

Can a bank put a charge on a property that is jointly owned, if so would my friend be liable to half of the £10k, as it stands now when the house is sold there will be around £8k negative equity.

 

I'm not 100% on this, but would imagine that it would depend on the type of ownership that your friend has.... and whether he is responsible for the whole of the mortgage (the same as his friend) or just his half, ie.... whether they bought the house as Joint Tenants or as Tenants in Common.

Joint Tenants

Joint Tenants are regarded by the law as owning the whole of the property without any form of separate share or distinction between them.... such as couples, for example. On the death of one of the Joint Tenants the whole of the property passes to the survivor or survivors. Normally the sole survivor of two Joint Tenants can sell the property and only needs a death certificate to prove their title or ownership.

 

Tenants in Common

This means that the co-owners are regarded in law as having separate and distinct shares of the joint mortgage... such as when different amounts have been paid as a deposit, for example. Tenants in Common may give their shares away by will, they may even charge or mortgage them to a lender. On death of a Tenant in Common the share of the deceased co-owner is protected by the requirement that another trustee has to be appointed before the land or property can be sold. If the shares are complex a separate trust deed will usually be drawn up setting the shares of the joint mortgage out.

 

Sorry for all questions this is an area that I know nothing about.

Ant help would be most appreciated.

 

We need to know which one it is before going any further... but in any case, the friend in Spain needs to conact the lender and deal with this one himself asap.... and not leave your friend in the lurch like this.

 

 

[spiritgirl59]

Hiya Priority One

 

Great advice, thanks for coming in on here. I have clicked your scales because the part about joint tenants/tenants in common is so very useful to know. I was assuming joint mortgagee was "joint tenant" in this case (slaps self for assuming )... but you are so right, there is such a difference and we need to know which one it is.

 

Love Spiritgirl x

[cf1958]

Thank you so much for your replies, I will tell him to contact his Building Society to find out details.

He is contact with his friend by text, his friend just said he will sort it, although he has no money to pay the debt.

Will post any further updates once I have spoken to my friend.

[tomterm8]

I am hoping someone can give some advice, a friend of mine bought a property jointly with his friend, it is currently up for sale (negative equity) his friend has moved to Spain they are not in arrears with the mortgage.

 

My friend has recently received a letter from another bank, not who the mortgage is with, stating that they have applied to the County Court for an order imposing a charge on the property of over £10k for a loan what the other joint mortgagee owes.

The charge would be on the interest of the other mortgagee.

 

This has not been secured on the property and has nothing to do with my friend, he has tried to contact the Bank concerned to find out what it is all about and they refused to talk to him.

 

Can a bank put a charge on a property that is jointly owned,

I believe so, yes. Again, it would only affect the other mortgagee's beneficial interest.

 

if so would my friend be liable to half of the £10k, as it stands now when the house is sold there will be around £8k negative equity.

Your friend is only liable to his/her own debts. Not the other mortgagee's. Any charge would not affect your friends own beneficial interest.

Assuming the house actually sells at negative equity, the first charge / earlier charges would take priority, and the charging order would be worth... nothing.

 

Sorry for all questions this is an area that I know nothing about.

Ant help would be most appreciated.

 

Hope this calms down any fears you have. You are entitled to a brief consultation with a soliciter; contact the citizens advice bureau for more information.

[cf1958]

Thank you Tomterm

 

He will feel so much better, I will tell him to get the free half an hour that most Solicitors offer, or CAB.

[sequenci]

If the property is already in negative equity and sells the charge will revert to being unsecured with just the other party liable for the money.

[rory32]

How will a charging order effect his credit rating as, being a joint owner, I assume they are financially related? Is it worth sending a notice of disassociation to the CRA's?

[ukaviator]

As Rory says, get your Credit files from, Callcredit, Experian, and Equifax, to see what else your friend has connected you to. When you receive the files, go through everything, and if you do find on the file your friends name connected to you, then ask for disassociation from your friend. The companies will send you out a form to fill in, once returned they will remove any financial link to you. You will be surprised at how much damage can be done to your credit file by someone else, especially ex partners.