Force of Sale on my Wife's ex-marital home...

[mhf]

Hi All,

 

I have a bit of a complicated issue....at least on the face of it is seems it!

 

My wife moved out of her then marital home some 9 years ago on the advice of the domestic violence unit

and for a little while she continued to pay the mortgage while her soon to be ex stayed in the house.

 

 

After a while we bought a house together (due to her on-going issues with her ex I bought the house in my name)

and we couldn't afford to pay both mortgages so concentrated on our new family home

assuming that the old house would soon be re-possessed (even though there is a good amount of equity in it my wife wanted to move on and forget the past).

 

Move on about 8 years and her unemployed ex is still in the house,

the mortgage was being paid by the council (the interest);

however recently he has been in court for benefit fraud and now they have stopped paying

as we have started receiving letters asking for payment.

 

 

We now want to re-mortgage our home to secure a better deal and want to make a joint application

which is being hampered by fact that my wife's credit rating is rock bottom and this other mortgage remains a chain around her neck.

 

What I am after is some advice on the best way to proceed here;

ideally we want to force sale and realise any equity from the property if at all possible

but would be happy just to get rid of the house so she can sort her credit out

and get into a position whereby we can make a joint application on a new mortgage.

 

 

After so many years its crazy we are still in this position but we just don't have the £8,000 we have been quoted in legal fees

to get this resolved so anything I can do myself I will do to save costs.

 

Any advice greatly appreciated.

[dx100uk]

you say her credit file is shot?

 

 

dx

[king12345]

If she doesn't want anything to do with the house and is prepared to lose the equity, your wife could contact the bank and offer to sign her part of the house to them.

They will probably jump at this offer.

However, if I was in her shoes I would approach a solicitor and ask in what way the house can be sold.

I'm pretty sure that if the sale is possible the solicitor will let you settle the bill once the house is sold.

[mhf]

Its not as good as it could / should be and after speaking to an IFA he suggested that in the current climate when looking for a mortgage you need to be squeaky in order to get the best rates around.

 

 

This is a bit of blot on her credit file and is a bit of over hanging 'mess' that we want to tidy up so we can move forward.

[mhf]

If she doesn't want anything to do with the house and is prepared to lose the equity, your wife could contact the bank and offer to sign her part of the house to them.

They will probably jump at this offer.

However, if I was in her shoes I would approach a solicitor and ask in what way the house can be sold.

I'm pretty sure that if the sale is possible the solicitor will let you settle the bill once the house is sold.

 

 

We did ignore the situation for a while in the hope that the bank would take the house back, although to get something out of it would be good for her as she paid the mortgage even when they were together as he was generally unemployed and when he did have money didn't contribute anything. Our main fear is that the house probably needs some TLC to make it attractive for sale and with him still in there we could never achieve this and lets just say we are not on speaking terms so even a joint effort is a no go....

[king12345]

We did ignore the situation for a while in the hope that the bank would take the house back, although to get something out of it would be good for her as she paid the mortgage even when they were together as he was generally unemployed and when he did have money didn't contribute anything. Our main fear is that the house probably needs some TLC to make it attractive for sale and with him still in there we could never achieve this and lets just say we are not on speaking terms so even a joint effort is a no go....

 

Shouldn't he be jailed for fraud?

This should give you and the bank some time to "have a look" at the property

[mhf]

There are many things he should be jailed for, he has a list as long as your arm but just seems to get away with things, if he ends up spending time at Her Majesty's Pleasure in the near future we will use this as our opportunity but based on previous experience I doubt this will happen. He also has / had legal aid at his disposal which far outweighs our financial abilities.

 

 

Not sure if this adds yet further complication but he has also moved his new partner into the house, should the above happen I am assuming that we can just kick her out as technically the house belongs to my wife and her ex?

[king12345]

There are many things he should be jailed for, he has a list as long as your arm but just seems to get away with things, if he ends up spending time at Her Majesty's Pleasure in the near future we will use this as our opportunity but based on previous experience I doubt this will happen. He also has / had legal aid at his disposal which far outweighs our financial abilities.

 

 

Not sure if this adds yet further complication but he has also moved his new partner into the house, should the above happen I am assuming that we can just kick her out as technically the house belongs to my wife and her ex?

 

I thought about your story that for some reasons stuck to my mind.

Considering all the emotional distress and the unknown next move of the ex, if I was your wife I would approach the bank and negotiate the sale of my half.

I don't know if this is even possible, but if it is it could be a solution which would avoid lengthy legal proceedings.

[steampowered]

You can seek a court order that the house is sold. This would not be a small claim so would take a lot of time and effort to run yourself. Perhaps someone would take it on a no-win-no-fee basis, but this is probably unlikely.

 

The other route might be to encourage the bank goes for repossession. If your wife supports the bank, that will make it easier for them to get an order for sale. Ultimately this is up to the bank.

 

As the mortgage is in default, do remember that will be on your wife's credit rating for at least six years. It will be some time before her credit record is clean.

[mhf]

Thank you all for taking the time to respond; apologies it has taken a while to get back on this....

 

I think, in all honesty, this is probably more of an emotional offloading than anything else, especially as she basically had to flee with her kids and take what she could so all of her sentimental belongings are still there, or at least we hope they are!

 

In an ideal world we would like to limit damage to her credit file so it does not impact us but if we cant re-mortgage now its not a massive issue, we were just looking to take advantage of the unusually low rates out there.

 

For her to see some equity back after she spent so many years paying the mortgage would be a bonus; this is something I would like for her more than her wanting this. Above all else to get her things out the house that have sentimental value and to offload it so we can move forward together is the primary goal.

 

Based on the advice given so far I am thinking that it might be better to talk to the bank and see if they can look to repossess it as we just don't have the finances to fight this, particularly if he has access to legal aid...

[king12345]

I can advice on getting the sentimental valuables if there's any left in the house.

Your wife needs to contact your local police officer and explain the situation, especially the fact that if the ex is advised of any visits he will probably trow everything away out of revenge.

A good officer would get in touch with the local officer for the ex husband's area and arrange a convenient time for you and your wife to visit the ex (accompanied by the copper of course) to collect her belongings.

I don't think he can refuse entry because the house still belongs to your wife and he's surely not paying rent to her.

Now, this sounds good, but it's only as good as the police officers that you will find on your way.

Most of them are good and really like to help people in their area, some are too busy with paperwork and don't have time (I better stop here).

Good luck

[stevemLS]

The only mistake your wife has made is to ignore the situation.

 

It is possible to get an Order to compel sale.

 

As has been said, though, these are not easy proceedings.

 

Is your wife's name still on the mortgage account? Is it in arrears? The easiest route might be to encourage the lender to take repossession proceedings. Your wife's credit record would be trashed though. It may be the lesser of two evils and would at least bring an end to the matter.

 

I doubt whether you would get a no win no fee arrangement. I equally doubt the ex will get public funding.

 

You do need professional help though.

 

You have my sympathy, little though that is worth.