mortgage help needed

[petrified]

hi all

 

 

I hope you can possibly give me some much needed advice as it is desperately needed.

 

 

6 years ago I got divorced, my ex wife as part of the divorce got control of the property and took on financial responsibility for it, she had control of an eventual sale etc.

 

 

she married again in September, and in November I was told she no longer wanted anything to do with this property. there was a large arrears on the property, and to say there was a lot of work doing inside the property is an understatement, the mortgage company was going for eviction.

 

 

I said to her if I was to take the property off her would she be agreeable. she wrote and signed a letter stating that she was happy for me to take over the property and at no time would she come back for any thing from the property and she would also agree for me to take her name off the deeds of the mortgage when the arrears where sorted out and 12 months clear payments had been made.

 

 

I spoke frequently with the mortgage company and over the last 3 weeks cleared the bulk of the arrears.

I went down to the property the other night and changed the locks due to the fact her son from a previous marriage has been using the property for the use of drugs , the day after I get a phone call from her going on saying ive been trespassing on the property and have made a big mistake changing the locks. ive been back tonight to check on the property only to find the locks have been changed by them.

 

 

where do I stand on this ?

 

 

there is no equity in the property in the condition she has left it in, if left it would probably sell at around 20k less than market value.

 

 

her plan was to hand the keys back in to the mortgage company and then go for bankruptcy.

 

 

as I have brought a large arrears under a month behind im struggling to find the money to seek legal advice

 

 

apologies if I have posted this in the wrong section

 

 

many thanks in advance for any help anyone may be able to offer

[citizenB]

Do you still have the letter where she has pretty much given over ownership of the property to you ?

[petrified]

yes signed and dated

[AndyOrch]

Hi

 

The key to this problem is the following.....

 

" 6 years ago I got divorced, my ex wife as part of the divorce got control of the property and took on financial responsibility for it, she had control of an eventual sale etc."

 

So I assume there is a court order to substantiate the above ? Obviously you will still be on the Mortgage...Land Registry (deeds) but if there is a court Order then she is legally the controlling force in ownership.

 

It really was unwise to pay any arrears off the Mortgage based on a signed bit of paper...which in reality has no legal standing and does no supercede any Divorce Court Order.

 

I'm afraid paying off the arrears and changing the locks may have been in vain you really should have sought legal advice first...possibly from the Solicitor who acted for you in your divorce settlement?

 

Regards

 

Andy

[petrified]

what I was trying to avoid was the repossession being enforced as this will have massive financial implications on myself

 

 

damned if I do damned if I don't

 

 

it doesn't look like I can win which ever way I go

[AndyOrch]

" what I was trying to avoid was the repossession being enforced as this will have massive financial implications on myself "

 

Not really... the Court Order stipulates your ex is solely responsible.Still if you pursue it now and make it legal then you have a good investment property of your own ?

 

So yes you can win.....but it has to be legal...not on a signed dated piece of paper.

 

What did you intend doing once the locks were changed?

[petrified]

Renovating the property over the next few months with a view to moving back in