My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you have any legal concerns we suggest you consult a solicitor.

Legal matters

Legal Advice Please...

4 replies

KaraThrace123 · 29/11/2012 01:10

Hi all. I really need some advice and guidance on this, hopefully someone here can help as myself and my partner are in a bit of a sticky situation. I will try and be brief whilst giving all the relevant information:

My partner and his ex (not married) have 2 children. They bought a property and lived in it altogether for a few years. They separated and she left the property and moved in with a relative nearby. He stayed in the jointly owned property with the children on the understanding that they would sell it asap.

For almost 2 years he has stayed there, paying a large mortgage and bills which he cannot afford. He can't keep up paying for a mortgage they got when there were two good wages coming in. She has not paid a penny towards the property or mortgage for over 1.5 yrs.

She will not respond to any attempts for trying to arrange for the property to be sold or rented out. He has offered her the property to live in if she wants to take the full financial cost, still no response. She has basically dumped him with the property that neither of them can afford alone and he doesn't know what to do. It's also in negative equity of about 20kish. She has said she will not pay a penny towards it or agree to sell it until it is out of negative equity. He can't currently rent it out as it needs lots of work doing to it which he can't afford (she will not pay any maintenance or repairs cost) and I think he'd need her permission anyway and she has said it will not be given.

He's sent her another letter today but we know she will ignore it. We know why she is doing it, she is holding him to living there which means he cannot move in with me (she has said she does not want any other woman living with her children). i think her plan is to refuse to sell or rent or communicate until the market gets better and the property is out of negative equity. He has been paying the mortgage all that time then she agrees to sell and takes half the bloody profit. Not a chance, we need to do something soon.

My question is - can he apply to court for permission to sell (we have been advised this is sometimes possible) given that she has shown no interest in the property, doesn't want to live there and will not pay anything for or towards it or communicate about it at all. If it is sold there will be a shortfall of about 20k (negative equity) will the court order than it is split between them and they pay half each (my partner is happy with this). Is this possible? How much will this court application cost us.

Staying living there isn't an option. He can't afford it alone, I can't move in with him as not big enough for us two and both our children's. Plus she recently let herself in without notice or permission and took the children's bunk beds that had been given to them by her family years ago, she also has a nose around, went through his paperwork etc. As a joint owner apparently she has the right to enter at any time (despite it not being her home for 1.5 yrs) and my partner now feels very uncomfortable living there now. He has of course now changed the locks (grey area I know) but that's a side issue.

Any help would be greatly received.

Thanks!

OP posts:
Report
monsterchild · 29/11/2012 01:26

I'm not entirely sure what the laws are where you are, but you can let it go into foreclosure and both will be responsible for it. that's one way the courts will order it sold without her consent.

this has risks, of course, and will impact his credit towards another home. But where I am at least, it takes a good number of months to get into foreclosure and he may be able to get another place before then.

But I'd talk to someone in your jurisdiction about this first, of course!

Report
STIDW · 29/11/2012 01:50

We can perhaps point you in the right direction but your partner would need to see a solicitor for legal advice. Your partner can apply to court for an order of sale. Strictly speaking his ex-partner has the right to enter her own property but that needs to be balanced against your partner's right to privacy. He could change the locks and arrange any access at a mutually convenient time.

Report
KaraThrace123 · 30/11/2012 08:49

Thank you both! STIDW We did change the locks immediately, she had been offered lots of says and time when he would be there and hand her items to her but she insisted that he should leave his home where she hadn't lived for over a year so she could come in and get her things without him present and "have a check around" for anything else she believed was hers. Thing is, she only took a couple of things that day and left loads of other stuff. We're talking maybe 8 big boxes of personal stuff, big items of furniture etc. She sneaked in when he was at work and it made him feel ill when we got there that evening. She'd been in every room, rearranging things to how they used to be when she lived there, moving and tidying up the children's toys - it was so creepy!

Anyway, do you know about what a court could order if he does apply to court for permission to sell? The biggest issue is the negative equity and he wants it to hopefully be split, forcing her to pay half (we thought perhaps an arrangement with bank for a loan for each of them to pay back half). She has previously said that she will not agree to sell unless he agrees to cover all legal costs, solicitors fees, the cost of all repairs before sale and take on the whole 20k negative equity, otherwise she wants the property not to be sold (but she doesn't want to live there and wont pay anything towards it).

Sorry for so many questions but also, do you think it would be fair (given that he has waited nearly 2 years to move out and she has ignored all requests to discuss and resolve property, that he moves out, sends her a letter informing her and pays half the mortgage until it is sold - leaving her with the other half to pay - seems fair given that neither of them will be leaving there.

He has booked solicitor appointment for next week x

Thank you! x

OP posts:
Report
Leithlurker · 30/11/2012 09:04

The first thing he should do, even before seeing the solicitor is to get himself in to see the mortgage company. He needs to advise them of change of circumstances, including that he has been paying for the last 1.5 years but he cannot do this any longer. He should ask for rescheduled payments, or a payment holiday, or to change the type of mortgage he has. He can also explore if mortgage people would be happy with him letting the place out. He should take with him a list of his income and his regular outgoings, bills, food, travel costs, insurances, phone contracts etc.

If ex wont play ball, might be worth saying "right im not paying any more, the house will be reposed and she will have to take her chances with the mortgage people as she is jointly liable." Plus let her know your DP has already been to see them so he has got first dig in.

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.