H
homeowneruk
Guest
Hi,
I currently have a joint mortgage with an ex whom I split with a year ago. She left me, this wasn't a mutual decision. I have remained in the home and paid the majority of the mortgage payments since then (she contributed some but then subsequently reduced her contributions to nothing via a verbal agreement). I have no problems paying the mortgage and the bills so personal finances aren't an issue.
We bought the house in 2007 and it is now about 12k in negative equity. She now wants off the mortgage so she can move on. An option would be to sell the house and split the debt 50/50.
However, I have decided that I do not wish to sell the house and want to keep it. I applied for a "transfer of equity" to take on the mortgage with a member of my family in the hope that the bank would accept. However, they have stated that I must reduce the mortgage by 28k to bring the mortgage down to 80% LTV. They informed me that it wouldn't matter who I applied with, the LTV would still need to be brought down to 80% LTV, hence a minimum of 28k.
The only other option is for her to remain on the mortgage until the house is in equity and then a) the bank are likely to accept a transfer of equity or b) I can apply for a new mortgage. She is pushing to get off the mortgage as she doesn't want the liability due to her not living in the house and not contributing to the mortgage, so she is unlikely to want to stay on the mortgage any longer.
She reckons she can't rent another place until her name is off the mortgage (at the moment she is at her mums and is desperate to get out), hence why she is wanting off the mortgage. However, that's not really my problem, but thought I'd give you the full picture.
In all honesty, I'm less bothered about have a 14k loan (half the 28k) to pay back than a 6k loan (to pay off the negative equity if the house sold) as at least with the 14k debt it is going towards something rather than into a black hole.
So, my questions are:
1. can I literally give her the two options of either paying half the 28k to essentially buy herself out of the mortgage or remain on the mortgage until we are in a better position and tell her that selling is not an option?
2. Can she get a court order to force the sale, even though the house is in negative equity? (I'm aware this will be an expensive option in terms of solicitors fees etc) There's no reason to need to sell the house, so I'm not sure on what grounds she would be able to force this (btw, the house is already up for sale but for more than it is currently worth)
3. I'm wanting to move in my new partner and her young daughter. Can my ex stop this from happening as she owns half the house, even though she is not living there or contributing to the mortgage?
4. If my ex was to come off the mortgage once back in equity, would she automatically be entitled to half or could I prove that she hasn't contributed an ultimately deduct this from her share of the profit?
Another thought I had is that if this were the other way around and the house was 28k in positive equity, she would be forcing me to buy her out so she could have her 14k, so why wouldn't this be the same the other way around in that she would need to buy herself out of the mortgage by giving me 14k?
I want to keep this as amicable as possible so we can both move on, and I'm not wanting to be awkward in any way. However I do feel that I need to stand my ground on this and tell her that as she decided to walk out on me then she shouldn't be able to decide what happens to the house.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
I currently have a joint mortgage with an ex whom I split with a year ago. She left me, this wasn't a mutual decision. I have remained in the home and paid the majority of the mortgage payments since then (she contributed some but then subsequently reduced her contributions to nothing via a verbal agreement). I have no problems paying the mortgage and the bills so personal finances aren't an issue.
We bought the house in 2007 and it is now about 12k in negative equity. She now wants off the mortgage so she can move on. An option would be to sell the house and split the debt 50/50.
However, I have decided that I do not wish to sell the house and want to keep it. I applied for a "transfer of equity" to take on the mortgage with a member of my family in the hope that the bank would accept. However, they have stated that I must reduce the mortgage by 28k to bring the mortgage down to 80% LTV. They informed me that it wouldn't matter who I applied with, the LTV would still need to be brought down to 80% LTV, hence a minimum of 28k.
The only other option is for her to remain on the mortgage until the house is in equity and then a) the bank are likely to accept a transfer of equity or b) I can apply for a new mortgage. She is pushing to get off the mortgage as she doesn't want the liability due to her not living in the house and not contributing to the mortgage, so she is unlikely to want to stay on the mortgage any longer.
She reckons she can't rent another place until her name is off the mortgage (at the moment she is at her mums and is desperate to get out), hence why she is wanting off the mortgage. However, that's not really my problem, but thought I'd give you the full picture.
In all honesty, I'm less bothered about have a 14k loan (half the 28k) to pay back than a 6k loan (to pay off the negative equity if the house sold) as at least with the 14k debt it is going towards something rather than into a black hole.
So, my questions are:
1. can I literally give her the two options of either paying half the 28k to essentially buy herself out of the mortgage or remain on the mortgage until we are in a better position and tell her that selling is not an option?
2. Can she get a court order to force the sale, even though the house is in negative equity? (I'm aware this will be an expensive option in terms of solicitors fees etc) There's no reason to need to sell the house, so I'm not sure on what grounds she would be able to force this (btw, the house is already up for sale but for more than it is currently worth)
3. I'm wanting to move in my new partner and her young daughter. Can my ex stop this from happening as she owns half the house, even though she is not living there or contributing to the mortgage?
4. If my ex was to come off the mortgage once back in equity, would she automatically be entitled to half or could I prove that she hasn't contributed an ultimately deduct this from her share of the profit?
Another thought I had is that if this were the other way around and the house was 28k in positive equity, she would be forcing me to buy her out so she could have her 14k, so why wouldn't this be the same the other way around in that she would need to buy herself out of the mortgage by giving me 14k?
I want to keep this as amicable as possible so we can both move on, and I'm not wanting to be awkward in any way. However I do feel that I need to stand my ground on this and tell her that as she decided to walk out on me then she shouldn't be able to decide what happens to the house.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
