How to approach a vulture fund to buy a house when I am not the mortgage holder

M

Maestro

New Member
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3
Hi all,
I am living in a house that is a family home, my husband and I are separated. The house is in his name and has been in mortgage arrears for a number of years. He has no interest in getting the mortgage back on track as he bought the house at the boom and it has depreciated by at least €200k. It's not a massive house, it's a standard 4 bed in an estate. I had a rep from the vulture fund call to the door, she was unaware that the house is a family home. I told her I was not prepared to pay rent to the VF but was willing to engage with a view to buying. Since then, I've heard nothing and the house is currently transitioning from one VF to another.

How do I go about getting in touch with the VF to propose buying the house outright? I can afford the currentarket value but not the amount owed on th eloan, what are the chances of getting a write down?

Thanks in advance
 
Hi Maestro

The house is his house so he would have to sell it to you and not the vulture fund.

The vulture fund could sell it to you, only if they repossessed it which they probably have not done. You would know as you would have been informed of the court proceedings.

If your husband wants to cooperate then it's possible that they might allow him to voluntarily surrender the home to them in exchange for writing off any shortfall on the mortgage.

But the vulture fund will not give you a mortgage. You would have to get that from another lender.

Brendan
 
Brendan Burgess said:
house is his house
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If they are married, the Family Home Act applies and the spouse has rights to the property.

The house is only one element to be considered in regards to settlement on foot of Judicial Separation or Divorce.

OP would be well advised to do some research & get legal advice.
 
Vulture funds no longer sell to private purchasers, they only sell property through auction sites. If the property fails to sell at auction, then the fund will consider a private sale. This is to negate claims of selling below market price.
 
DannyBoyD said:
If they are married, the Family Home Act applies and the spouse has rights to the property.
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Danny. The point is that the vulture fund can't sell the house unless they have an order for possession. The OP has rights, but can't buy it from her husband unless he wants to sell it to her.
 
Well, the house prices are nearly at boom level if not exceeded already and a standard 4 bed in an estate is not a small house either.
 
Maestro said:
He has no interest in getting the mortgage back on track as he bought the house at the boom and it has depreciated by at least €200k. It's not a massive house, it's a standard 4 bed in an estate.
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Have you had a valuation? Most houses in Ireland are at or very close to their peak 2006 valuation by now.
 
but can't buy it from her husband unless he wants to sell it to her.
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If the couple are separating/divorcing then 'wants' don't really come into it; there has to be a settlement either agreed between them or court ordered.

The VF is a bit of a red herring here; doesn't really matter who holds the mortgage.

It's not clear how long the OP has been separated, but they can't keep their head in the sand any longer.
 
Firstly your Ex should consider doing a Personal Insolvency Arrangement where, depending on his circumstances, he might be able to get the mortgage reduced to the value of the family home. To get the best result he might need to move back into the family home so that he may declare that it is his PPR, so that he could achieve what is called a Section 115A cramdown.

Vulture funds do not generally "sell" family homes to borrowers. They sometimes allow the borrowers to "redeem" the mortgage, given the costs and delays in repossession proceedings.

Given that you are going through a separation/divorce you need advice from an expert lawyer in the area to explore all options.

Jim Stafford
 
Thank you Brendan, this is very helpful. I thought with the vulture fund involved at all, that he would not be able to sell. He is happy to sell to me, just weren't sure if this was possible. I'm getting conflicting info from different legal sources so just wanted to put the feelers out here while I do my own research in the background.

Thanks again.
 
DannyBoyD said:
The house is only one element to be considered in regards to settlement on foot of Judicial Separation or Divorce.

OP would be well advised to do some research & get legal advice.
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Thanks for your time. I'm more than aware that the house is only one element and I'm obviously doing my own research and have sought legal advice from 2 different sources and 2 further bodies. The situation is a lot more nuanced than I've shared. So thanks for the advice but rest assured that I'm not relying solely on an online message board, nor am I "burying my head in the sand".
 
Maestro said:
I thought with the vulture fund involved at all, that he would not be able to sell.
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In case there is any confusion

1) As there is a mortgage on the property, he cannot sell the property without the agreement of the Vulture Fund
2) He cannot "sell" the property and transfer the mortgage to you.
3) The vulture fund will not give you a new mortgage to buy it from him.

Given that there are nuances which you can't share with us, you should do as Jim suggested and ask a Personal Insolvency Practitioner for advice on how best to proceed. He may well engage with the vulture fund on your ex's behalf and get a voluntary sale agreement without the formality of a PIA.

Brendan
 
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