Voluntary repossession

[alleycat88]

To cut a long story not at all short, after trying all other avenues I have asked my mortgage company to repossess the property I own jointly with my estranged husband. We split 6 years ago, and the property is rented out to cover the mortgage. My ex has pretty much done a bunk, refuses to tell me where he lives, and will not pay anything towards repairs & maintenance etc. He has previously stalked & harrassed me so I am also refusing to give him my address. I have previously spent nearly £3,000 on pointless letters between our solicitors, acheiving nothing.

 

He point blank refuses to sell, refuses to pay any charges, and will not allow me to pass on the management of the rental to a property management company (the tenant is friends with my ex & reports everything straight back to him, so my ex cancels appointments with agents etc. The tenant is also extremely hostile & uncooperative towards me & towards workmen carrying out repairs). I have offered to sign my share of the property over to my ex, to waive any right to any profit if we sell & so on, but he just refuses to accomodate any suggestion.

 

The property is in poor condition (thanks partly to neglect from the tenant) and requires updating, including me having to pay £3,000 for a full rewire recently, and £1,500 for flooring renewal.

 

The rental income is covering the mortgage but not the cost of the repairs etc, so is running at a loss. The mortgage is for £140,000, and the value of the property is £135,00-145,000 approx.

 

It's been 6 years now and I just want to cut all ties with my ex and with this property, the stress of the finances, dealing with an abusive tenant etc is making me ill. I have been advised that I can take my ex to court & force a sale, but that if he cooperates this will cost around £2,000, and if he doesn't cooperate, up to £10,000.

 

I understand there will probably be a mortgage shortfall after repossession, but would I be able to arrange an affordable payment plan? I'm a single parent to a toddler, working part time.

 

Could the ex also bring the repossession to a halt if he feels like being difficult? Or, if they manage to track him down, would he be offered the chance to take on the property solely, and my name be taken off the mortgage? Would we both be expected to go to court for the repossession? I am still scared of him, and scared that if the property is repossessed against his wishes he'll take it out on me.

 

When I spoke to the mortgage company to request a voluntary surrender, they said I will need my ex's consent! When I explained that he will not consent, they advised me to stop paying the mortgage for 3 months and this will begin the repossession process.

 

I do understand that repossession is not to be taken lightly and is usually not advisable, but I can see no other option.

 

Thank you in advance for any responses

[Lea_HTH]

If your ex isn't involved in the property at all, and it is rented out and the mortgage is covered, there seems to be no reason not to apply to have your ex removed from the mortgage and have ownership signed over to you - you can apply to the courts for that. Applying for an order for sale to the courts would resolve the matter once and for all - but in the interim, if the tenant is causing you issues, it is easier and cheaper to evict them and get a new tenant in.

 

You don't need a solicitor to apply for an order for sale, or to have the property transferred to you. Seek advice from a law centre as to how to draft your claim, in order that you quote the correct law, obviously, but you'll be able to represent yourself at court (thereby saving money).

[alleycat88]

hi Lea, thanks for the response. Unfortunately the mortgage company won't take either of us off the mortgage - they have said that this would entail applying for a new mortgage as a sole applicant, and my income is not high enough for that.

 

The tenant has already said that he would fight any eviction, so that would be a drawn out & costly process too I fear. CAB and so on have been unable to offer me any useful advice other than to get a solicitor - when you say a law centre what do you mean exactly, is there a free law service Ive missed?

[honeybee13]

Hello there. I think this could be what Leah meant, here's a link for you.

 

http://www.lawcentres.org.uk/

 

HB

[alleycat88]

ah thank you HB. Unfortunately looks like my nearest one is 60 miles away. I've also tried Money Advice Centre, Shelter, CAB, Stepchange and they all just tell me to get a solicitor. Not easy when you have no money...

[Lea_HTH]

Your tenant could fight as long and hard as he/she likes - but the bottom line is, if you serve a s21 (if you've protected the deposit, and the fixed term is over), then there is nothing your tenant can do to stop the court awarding you possession of the property. A s21 notice is a no fault notice, which means the tenant doesn't have to have done anything wrong - and the landlord is guaranteed the return of their property. It does entail giving the tenant two months notice - and best to have this end on the last day of a tenancy period - e.g. if the rent is paid on 15th (and that is the same day the tenancy agreement started), then the notice should be served to end on the 14th...you must serve it with two clear months given to the tenant. So long as you get the dates correct, and deposit is protected and prescribed information has been served, then the tenant has no defence to the claim in court.

 

The cost to get the tenant out, if you do everything yourself, will be for the court fee £250 to file the N5 claim form. You can claim that back from the tenant (and if your tenancy agreement has a clause stating you can claim your legal costs, you could instruct a solicitor to do it all for you and claim your costs back in court). It'll only be drawn out and costly if you serve the notice incorrectly, or have failed to protect the deposit or served the prescribed information. Otherwise it'll be straightforward and you can even apply for accelerated proceedings.

[alleycat88]

Thanks Lea. Unfortunately we were stupid enough not to protect the deposit within the correct timescale, and I've only recently realised the implications of that. so that's a whole other headache.

 

In any case, getting rid of the tenant doesnt get me any closer to getting rid of the property. It just means more stress, more money on repairs & renovations to bring the property up to a reasonable standard & attract a new tenant and so on. What I'm hoping for is just to be relieved of ownership.

 

My main worries are what percentage of my income I would be expected to pay each month after repossession to make up any shortfall, and whether my ex can halt the repossession just to cause more delays?

[BornThisWay]

Alleycat I am not a legal expert but I do have a couple of questions please.

 

 

Are you relying on the income from the property - in other words is the rent more than the mortgage payment you are making? Is your ex paying anything towards the mortgage?

 

 

Also I don't quite understand why it is you who is having to deal with all repairs, etc.? They are the joint responsibility of you and your ex - I would simply refuse to do any repairs unless he paid half.

 

 

I know that the mortgage company won't remove him from the agreement because they are assuming he is paying his share - is that the case or are you paying it all? Surely therefore if you stop paying the property will be repossessed unless your ex takes over all repayments? You would have the repossession on your credit record of course, but so would he.

 

 

It is ludicrous that you are having to deal with all of this. If it was me I would simply cease all discussions with the tenant, stop paying anything towards the mortgage and let your ex sort it out. You will always be entitled to half any proceeds as will he. But let him worry about it!

[Lea_HTH]

You're not going to be 'relieved of ownership' though - it's going to cost you, and you'll end up continuing to pay for something you no longer own.

 

But that's your choice.

 

Good luck.

[alleycat88]

Hi BornThisWay,

 

The rental income pays the mortgage, there's no profit in it for me (maybe £70 per month but thats been eaten up in repairs etc). The mortgage has been paid straight out of my bank account for the past 6 years, ex pays nothing. The mortgage company know this, but we are still 'jointly & severably liable' for the mortgage. So I'm liable for all of it as hes essentially done a bunk. The mortgage company don't give a toss what hardship I'm in, they have been getting paid so they are happy I'd imagine.

 

The rental income goes directly into my bank account. I've spent 6 years trying to get ex to communicate/ tell me where he is/ take some responsibility & got nowhere. I've paid for repairs as I didnt want the property to get even more wrecked, or for the tenant to be unsafe. Ex is barely contactable, all I have is an email address & it can take him up to a year to answer me!

 

The thing is, if I left it all to the ex to sort out I imagine it would get repossessed pretty quickly too, he's hopeless with money & meeting payments etc.

 

lea, the thing is that at the moment I'm out of pocket & suffering a lot of sleepless nights over being tied into this property & the tenant & my ex. It's been 6 years and I feel like there is no escape for me. I may own half of the property, but I can't do anything with it, and theres no equity, so it's not much incentive.

 

I don't know if I'd be better off declaring bankruptcy? Am just at my wits end with it all

[citizenB]

I am not sure why your ex is being so difficult. Have you ensured that he cant use the property as collateral for borrowing?

 

If the mortgage company is refusing to help you find a way out of this, have you thought of looking at mcobs to see if there is anything there that you could use to your benefit ?

 

You use the term "estranged".. does this mean you are just separated and not yet divorced ?

 

Can you not protect the deposit now without any problems ? Then you could follow Leah's advice.

[alleycat88]

I am not sure why your ex is being so difficult. Have you ensured that he cant use the property as collateral for borrowing?

 

If the mortgage company is refusing to help you find a way out of this, have you thought of looking at mcobs to see if there is anything there that you could use to your benefit ?

 

You use the term "estranged".. does this mean you are just separated and not yet divorced ?

 

Can you not protect the deposit now without any problems ? Then you could follow Leah's advice.

 

I don't think he's allowed to take out any loans secured on the property without my signature, I could be wrong? And yes unfortunately still married as he wouldnt agree to a divorce, although now 5 years has passed I can do that without his consent (but have been advised to try & do the divorce & selling property all in one package, so was trying to get him to agree to that).

 

I protected the deposit as soon as I realised I needed to but unfortunately that's pointless apparently. If you go beyond the 30 day time limit you are liable to pay the tenant back 3x the deposit potentially