Questions about house repossession

[lauzc87]

I've just come across this site and wondered if anyone could help answer a few questions. I have no idea whether I have posted this in the correct forum as I've found the site quite complicated to understand where to post things...

 

Basically, I brought a house with my ex 4.5 years ago. We split up 3.5 years ago and he just walked out, leaving me with the house, to pay the mortgage and keep up maintanence on the property. Since he left, I have spent thousands on mortgage payments etc. I moved back in with my parents and have since been renting the house out, paying money into the shortfall each month.

 

The bank don't offer buy-to-let mortgages (yorkshire building society) and even if they did, my ex is refusing to sign or acknowledge anything. I have decided to go travelling in 2011 and will no longer be able to afford to pay the shortfall from the rental income and my ex is refusing to even answer my letters.

 

If I miss 2 months mortgage payments (as already have 1 month arrears), I believe the mortgage company will apply for repossession. Can they change the locks on the house before the court has honnored the repo? How long, realistically, do you think I can let me tennants live there for? Obviously, I understand that they can't live there for 6 months longer or anything, but if I give them 2 months notice in the new year, would this give them enough time to move out before any action is taken against the house? What would happen if I did let them stay there longer; how would they know about the repo? 3 mortgage payments will have been missed on 1st February. And if the house will get repo'd anyway, and my ex doesn't give a damn, then I don't want to pay the rent to my mortgage company as want to reclaim some of the money I've paid into the house and for the money I put down as a deposit.

 

Also, if I'm out of the country travelling for the next 2 years, what sort of mess will I come back to if I ignore all letters from debtors? (I also have about 10k of loans and credit cards which I racked up to afford to live in the house when my ex left).

 

Thank you for any help, and hope I haven't waffled on too much

 

Just to add, our mortgage is for £101k and recently, a house down the road sold for £92k, so will deffy be in negative equity.

[rebel11]

Hi lau

 

Welcome to CAG

 

The guys will advise as soon as they are available.

[newstarter]

Theres a lot going on here,and your first port of call should be with your tennants.You have tennants in a residential property under a residential mortgage and they have no rights in law whatsoever,secondly you are technically in breach of your mortgage contract so they could repossess on that point alone.However i do understand that "when needs must the devil drives" but you must give them adequate notice to find other accomodation,be staright with them and you should be ok,just dont let on to your lender that you have rented the property out.

 

You and your partner took out the mortgage as a joint venture and were living in the property for 12 months before you split up therefore,in law you are both responsible for this debt.Secondly your ex partner is going to have to realise that by walking away this debt will not just disappear ,and thirdly by just doing nothing you will be storing up many problems for the future,in short you are going to come back from your travels to a right mess.So whats to do about it?

 

Firstly you mentioned negative equity above,if you let the house be reppossessed you and your partner will be libel for any shortfall and i suspect it wont be the 10% you mentioned above,it will probobly be somwhere between that figure and 35%.Some will tell you that your lender has a duty to get the best price possible for your property after its been repossessed and they would be right but lenders never do.Furthermore you and your partner can be chased for that debt by your lender or a d.c.a for 12 years (6 for the intrest) and if they cannot find him they will try to force you to pay the lot! and it could be after charges upwards of 20,000 on a bad day even more.Thus rather than you claiming off your lender your lender will be trying to claim a tidy sum off you.Now, the repo process does not really start untill you are 3 months in arrears,there will be letters for a month or two from your lender before this went before a judge on a possession hearing and with both of you doing a no show at court i would estimate the whole process to take around 4 -5 months before the house was repossessed and the locks changed and both your names on the C.M.L possession register.So taking into account all of the above the last thing either of you should be doing is walking away and just letting this happen,if you want rid so badly,sell on the open market

[newstarter]

You also need to speak to your ex partner,writing letters is no good ,as i said earlier things will be so much easier with his cooperation,howeverif you can,t then come back to the forum and we can help you through this stage by stage,however your first priority is your property,you have struggled for far too long to let it go for a pittance.

[lauzc87]

Thank you for your answers to my questions.

 

I know that I shouldn't have been renting it out, but if I hadn't have, it would have been repo'd long ago. At the time when my ex left, I only brought in £800 a month and my mortgage payment was £600 + bills. So my only option was to rent it. It is physically impossible to get any money out of my ex. I have even written to his parents stating the problems and they are not even willing to help.

 

There is no way possible we can sell the house. It could take months and months to sell and there would still be around 10k shortfall on the mortgage, not including solicitor and estate agent fees. I believe if we did try to sell it, the mortgage company would have to agree with the sale and agree to how we would pay back the shortfall. I would be completely left with this as my ex would refuse to pay a penny, and it wouldn't suprise me if he even quit his job to try and get out of paying anything... Apparently, I've been advised the outstanding debt can't just be split 50/50 and that even if I paid off my half, I would still be liable for the other half. And while it was going through the sale, what would happen if my tenants left as they didn't want to be living in a property knowing they'd have to move out soon. I would have no way of paying my £600 a month mortgage payments... So it would get repossessed anyway?

 

I see the only option as to let the house get repossessed. I have asked my mortgage company in the past, when I was stuggling, to help me and they wouldn't offer anything. The woman on the phone told me "if you can't afford to pay your mortgage, you can't afford to live there." They won't put me onto interest only as I have no repayment vehicle and I physically don't want to pay another penny into the property.

 

I really, really, really can't see any other way out of this. Unless anyone has any great ideas! I understand about the debt I'll be left with etc and really, really don't have the energy for people to lecture me on this... I brought the house when I was 19, made a stupid mistake and yes, I'm now paying for it while my ex swans off with his new girlfriend 2 kids + 4 step kids and a free house which is paid for by her ex!!! While I'm left here trying my damn hardest to pick up the peices and work out a way to sort this mess out.

[lauzc87]

You also need to speak to your ex partner,writing letters is no good ,as i said earlier things will be so much easier with his cooperation,howeverif you can,t then come back to the forum and we can help you through this stage by stage,however your first priority is your property,you have struggled for far too long to let it go for a pittance.

 

I have no physical way of contacting him via phone. I have an address for him which I'm not even sure if it's correct and have his parent's address - which is the one I've been writing to. I don't have any phone numbers for him and haven't heard him since he walked out 3.5 years ago. He has a lot of debt, from what I believe, credit cards/loans etc so I think he switches his phone number quite a bit so I have lost all telephone contact with him.

 

What you suggest going to his parent's house?

 

If I turned up at the court hearing, what would be the benefits of this?

 

Thank you...

[newstarter]

You missunderstand me i am not in any way trying to lecture you i was explaining the pitfalls of volountarily giving up the property or just letting your lender go through the process unchallenged,(i for one would be in no position to lecture anyone) however you did ask for advice and i would never advise someone to give up their home without a fight,especially in the current market conditions but if your ex has run off and washed his hands of any responsibility and your at the end of your tether ,then let it go,let the repo process run its course,it will take 4-5 months so keep an eye on the time-line as regards your tennants.The 10k,well lets face it if your travelling then no-one can find you can they? and you can deal with these unsecured debts later on when you come back

[lauzc87]

No, that's okay. I understand that you are offering me advice. It's just that it's all getting too much and people keep telling me how stupid I was to buy a house so young and that it's my problem now and I need to sort it out by paying my mortgage! Even the mortgage company have practically said that to me... I can't believe the way they behave. Would it benefit me if I turned up in court? Could I tell them I've tried and tried to maintain the mortgage and property? Would it go against my ex?

 

I asked my ex to pay half of the shortfall each month and to co-operate with me, but I've heard nothing. And don't want to be struggling whilst I'm travelling and having to keep working to fund the shortfall. There's also other things like landlord certificates, maintanance of the house whilst I'm away, if any of the white goods break. It seems one thing after another, after another.

 

If I was away travelling for 2 years and came back, if I left my bank account at my parents address and moved elsewhere, renting a room from a friend or from someone who would pay the bills and I'd just pay them a set amount, how likely would it that I would be 'found' if I had absolutely no credit at that address? Can you be caught out when you work or from the DVLA records? Also, if when I come back I decide to study at college for a year and then onto University for 3-4 years and didn't work, just used my bursaries, would the mortgage company be able to try and take any of this to repay the money from the repossession?

 

And, one last question! I currently own a car. Should I transfer the ownership over to my mum? (I will be selling it in April 2011 anyway). Could they try and take my car towards payments of the debts on my house?

[Surfer01]

This may sound harsh but I don't know of any other way to put it. Do you really want to go travelling for two years to come back to a massive debt of over £20000 plus a trashed credit record? Also interest will be added to that amount on a daily basis. That alone would spoil my 2 year break. Surely if you can afford to travel you can afford to pay the mortgage? Maybe you need to consider your priorities first.

You need to remember that the bailiffs, DCAs and every otehr low life will be bothering your parents as that is the last known address. Do you really want that? It may be worth considering postponing your 2 year trip & selling up now even if it is at a small loss as the debt may then only be about £10000 or even less. Selling the car could then reduce this even further. The place down the road may be a dump in comparison to yours which is why it sold for such a low price. Have you had an estate agent in to valuate it? You never know it might be worth more than you think. You could always tell the tenants that the valuation is for insurance purposes. can you increase the rent at all?

[lauzc87]

This may sound harsh but I don't know of any other way to put it. Do you really want to go travelling for two years to come back to a massive debt of over £20000 plus a trashed credit record? Also interest will be added to that amount on a daily basis. That alone would spoil my 2 year break. Surely if you can afford to travel you can afford to pay the mortgage? Maybe you need to consider your priorities first.

You need to remember that the bailiffs, DCAs and every otehr low life will be bothering your parents as that is the last known address. Do you really want that? It may be worth considering postponing your 2 year trip & selling up now even if it is at a small loss as the debt may then only be about £10000 or even less. Selling the car could then reduce this even further. The place down the road may be a dump in comparison to yours which is why it sold for such a low price. Have you had an estate agent in to valuate it? You never know it might be worth more than you think. You could always tell the tenants that the valuation is for insurance purposes. can you increase the rent at all?

 

Right... I came on here to answer the questions regarding how long repossession takes, can they take my car etc. I DO NOT want a lecture on how I should manage my life. Have you not read my other posts?

 

In response to your 'advice':

 

My credit record is already 'trashed'. I have defaulted credit cards etc and couldn't even get a pay day loan because my credit is that bad. So no, having this debt doesn't bother me whilst I'm travelling.

 

Me concider my priorities? My ex has ran off and left me with this for over 3 years. I think it's about time I 'ran away' from it and left him to pick up the sh*t for once.

 

Sell the house... Please see previous post.

 

Why should I sell MY car which I need for work purposes while my ex sits on his arse in a 4 bed detached house with two brand new cars on the drive while I pay for OUR JOINT debts. This is NOT an option to sell my car, plus it's only worth around £500-600 - hardly worth it concidering I need it for work!!!!!

 

Do you know what is happening to the housing market at present?! We brought our house in 2006 which was when the housing market peaked. Houses now are not selling for what they were in 2006. The house down the road was fine in comparison to mine, on par. I had 3 estate agents round who valued the house between £87-£92k.

 

The tenants would not be willing to pay anymore, and I can't say that an extra £10 a month would make much of a difference.

 

Anyway, I've got my answers from this site from newstarter, so thank you for your help.

 

Can't say a lot about the others!!! Thank you for your lovely advice, but it's going straight into the bin....

[Surfer01]

Suit yourself as it sounds like you don't want advice!

[newstarter]

OK,lets say 4-5 months for the possession process to run its course,im just posting some more info up here because i think your mind is already made up,so the more info you have the better.As i said earlier the repo process will start firstly with some warning letters asking you to get in touch with your lender concerning outstanding arrears.After around six weeks those letters will mention intended court action,your lender will apply for a possession hearing in court and as you already know the order will be granted which lets face it is what you want.By this time 4 months will have passed and your tennants must have gone or they will be evicted,so you must keep an eye on that,another 4 weeks or so and the court bailiff will come and change the locks on doors and windows,so you will no longer own the property.It will probobly be auctioned off and all this will happen while your away so you wont have all the headaches,while the repo runs its course.

 

Now as for the other 10k as soon as you start to default,you will get the warning letters and threats of court action,but again as you wont be in the country they wont be chasing you

but you will have the satisfaction of knowing that they will be chasing him.You mentioned you are travelling so if i were you i would want to be leaving no later than,say the end of March or else you may catch some of the flack from this.Dont worry about the car nobody is going to take that,your credit card debts will result in ccj,s but like you said your credit ratings shot to peices anyway.Go away and get busy living for a year or two,at least you will be fresh for the battle which will surely come when you return home.Your story is sad and i do feel for you because of what you have gone through,in fact if my own daughter was 17 or older i would make her sit down in my office and read this as a warning.Some may say iam being irresponsible to advise in the way i have,but my guess is at what 23 years old? you have time enough to sort this out,good luck and a happy new year

 

N.S

[Andy_bikes]

Hi All

 

3 years down the line -guessing traveling went well - is there an update on what happened.

 

I am in a similar situation - My ex disappeared 3 years ago - does not want anything to do with the property - I was initially living in it for the first 6 months of the split where she made my life hell - so on mutual agreement the property was rented out, agreed if no tenants were in the property she would cover halve of the costs including all maintenance, this didn't happen - which resulted me having to move back to my parents house as I couldn't afford to pay rent and a mortgage.

 

6 months ago I decided to move back into the property as tenants I had got in eventually, gave their notice and I used this as an opportunity to move out of my parents house.

 

My ex is unaware I am back in the property and guess if she knew would turn up every day mouthing off. During the period the house was rented it was on the open market but no buyers for the price I was asking for - again the house is in neg equity.

 

My situation being different is that I can afford the payments however I am not happy to continue with the current situation.

 

I have approached the mortgage company (RBS) to see if I can take my ex's name off the mortgage but stay on the same product initially I was told that is not a problem and it would just incur a £150 fee - but I need her signature - I have written to her which she has ignored (probably as I have had debt collectors chasing her for the money she said she would cover ).

 

My next point of call is a solicitor however I thought I would call RBS to get something in writing from them before I throw more money away. Where I have now been told I need to go through a mortgage approval myself and it is not just a simple case of removing a name.

 

I have researched this a little and have noticed lenders are very reluctant to remove a name as they see 2 people to go after any debt is better than 1.

 

A couple of questions - what are the chances this will be rejected? I have never missed a payment my credit history is excellent, however the house is in neg equity - I do not have enough savings to throw at the mortgage sort of regretting spending £5k on improvements 4 months ago now.

 

I have used online calculators to see how much I could borrow on my wage these come out around £20K short of what the mortgage is however if I remove the loan I have (£227pm) only 12 months left they only fall 5K short. How accurate are these calculators will they look at this. My thoughts on this are "computer says no" I have manage to afford this and I can afford it, I would be trying if I couldn't. So do the lenders look at you in a better light and make a decision on the fact I have paid this.

My mortgage is currently interest only and I have been told I can stay on the product as long as I have an ISA in place.

 

Now I'm pretty money savvy, ISA's are paying rubbish rates and I didn't want to fix my money in for x amount of years so I moved my money last year into a current account with better rates.

 

I still have an ISA but only pennies in it - Now would the lender ask how much I have or will they just ask do you have an ISA in place.

 

I do not wish to go on a repayment at the moment as the interest rates are really high for the LTV - so my future plan is to over pay - but I am not willing to do this at the moment while my ex is currently on the mortgage.

 

If I get rejected I am seriously thinking of walking away - but my concern is that is is not a 50/50 split in the debt.

 

If I continue as I am my concern would be when the house is in profit my ex would also be entitled to this after I have spent thousands on getting it to that point and I don't see how that is fair.

 

Any advice would be much appreciated as I would like another pair of eyes over my situation I feel like I am just going round in circles with this and my goal for 2014 is to resolve somehow.

 

Thanks

 

Andy