Am I entitled to any money?

[Uotl]

Hi, 

 

I have been paying my parent towards the mortgage for a few years. I was told by my parent with 1 hours notice I had to leave. He has now sold the house. 
am I entitled to get any of the money I paid back now he has sold the house ? 
thank you 

[BankFodder]

In principle I would say yes you are entitled to money.

We would need a lot more detail.

Can you tell us at least – how old you are?
Have you been living there?
How long have you been living there?
What was the entire mortgage payment?
How much are you paying? And how much that in total over the years you have been there (to save me having to calculate it)
Where you paying anything else such as board and lodging?
Was there ever anything said or written about what might happen if the circumstances arise?

Have you actually left the property?
Has your parent left the property?
He said that there has been sold. Has completion taken place?
 

[Uotl]

Can you tell us at least – how old you are? 24 
Have you been living there? I have lived there since birth - June 2023  
How long have you been living there? 23 years 
What was the entire mortgage payment? Mortgage payment was £450 a month
How much are you paying? And how much that in total over the years you have been there (to save me having to calculate it) I was paying £400 - £500 , I started paying 3 years ago, I don’t have the exact amount as I need to contact my bank to find out however it’s around £10,000-15,000
Where you paying anything else such as board and lodging? I was paying for Wi-Fi and maintenance at the property 
Was there ever anything said or written about what might happen if the circumstances arise? I was told via text message and in person if the house is sold I would get back what I paid and now he is saying no. 

Have you actually left the property? Yes June 2023 
Has your parent left the property? Yes 
He said that there has been sold. Has completion taken place? The house has been sold and currently waiting for the solicitor to finalise 
 

[BankFodder]

I'm afraid that your answers make me more sceptical about your right to recover some money.
Although there might be a trust in your favour – meaning that the circumstances and your father's text you may have created an expectation which you relied upon and which in turn created a moral duty on your father – a constructive trust – this will probably need to be enforced in a court of law and this would be complicated, expensive and you would need a lawyer.

Even if you can establish that there is a trust in your favour, I think it might also be reasonable for your father to claim that you have not paid any rent over the three years and so any money that you might be entitled to could be offset by rent.
I don't know where you live but rental at £450 a month is pretty cheap by any measure. You don't say who was paying for your food, electricity, heating, council tax et cetera. But if you weren't  paying those then it sounds to me as if you have lived fairly cheaply and I would expect that a court of law would take that into consideration and they would say that you have done very well.

So I'm afraid that on the information you have given so far it sounds as if you have done pretty well and that even if you challenged it, the court might agree that your father owes you some money but equally the court might say that you owe your father some money.

You say that the house is now empty. I suppose if you wanted to cause problems you could move back into the house – presumably you still have the keys – and then you could make it clear to your father and your father solicitors that you are asserting a right and that you had no intention of moving on until you receive some payment.

I expect that this would focus people's minds and you might get some kind of small payment to move out simply to avoid upsetting the entire exchange of property and getting in the way of new people moving in.

On the other hand, they could decide to get nasty and I would expect that you would probably be on the wrong side of a court judgement if it eventually came to that.

Do you have somewhere to live at the moment?

[Uotl]

Ok thank you. I do have somewhere to live now yes.