ex partner refusing to sell jointly owned house

[gloomanddoom]

I purchased a property with my partner about 9 years ago as tenants in common.

In 2010 we split up and I moved out with my children to a rented property. I have not contributed to the mortgage since leaving.

The verbal agreement between us was that the house was going up for sale and once sold we'd both split any proceeds and go our separate ways. He is consistantly failing to pay the mortgage on time and then playing catchup just enough to stop repossesion, which has resulted in my credit rating plummeting. Before my leaving the property the mortgage was already paid on time. I have no acccess to the house as the locks have been changed and still have belongings stored in the loft which he's threatening to take down to the tip.

He is completely un-cooperative about putting the house on the market, and does seem to be enjoying the fact that it is causing me an issue, he has no funds to buy me out and I dont think the mortgage company would allow it with the latest run of late/missed payments.

I want to remove myself from the mortgage so need to apply to the court for an order of sale I presume, but what if he strings it out once the order is given, either by leaving the house a mess, putting potential buyers off etc, this still leaves me being hounded by the mortgage company for the payments.

The property was valued at £150k last year, but realistically the estate agent said we were likely to get £125k. There is about £107k outstanding on the mortgage.

I looked at an online pack to make the request to the court as I feel it is going to be very costly to use a solicitor due to his being so uncooperative. I dont think I would qualify for legal aid for this.

I just want to get this sorted and move on with my life.

Any advice welcome.

Thanks in advance

thanks

[Terino00]

The two most expensive words in the English language are "my lawyer" but I am afraid it may take a court order to get this sorted out and that means consulting one of the greedy bastards. You can always have a good wash afterwards but the damage to your bank balance takes a long time to heal.

[Terino00]

And it turns out murder is illegal!

[bednobs]

i think you'll hve to go to court. not sure i would split y the profit with ypu if it was me thpugh

[arwyn]

For what you would get (not paying for 9 years) I would just take my name off the mortgage. To do this will cause him hassle so I'd to it to pi$$ him off. He has to prove he can manage the payments on his own, the fact he has been missing payments will go against him. I've been there before and it was best to just pi$$ him off back..

[gloomanddoom]

Terrino00, thanks and I'm well past the planning of wiping out my ex's existence

Bednobs...what's the thinking behind your comment about not splitting the
profits? I omitted in my post that 100% of my income went into paying the mortgage and bills every month and he paid for food, so its not like I'm not owed anything back. I do value the comment just wonder what the reasoning is behind it.
Thanks

[rockyracoon]

Arwyn, there's no way the mortgage company would allow that, he's proved he can't manage on his wage alone to pay the mortgage, they're mot going to let go of gloomanddoom if they can chase her for arrears.

[bednobs]

because he has paid it soley for the last 2 years

[cathfromsaron]

why not fill in the forms at the court and represent yourself!

you want to force the sale to realise your assets, occupy it yourself and buy him out or he can buy you out!

btw, did you agree a contract when you bought together, to cover this outcome?

[arwyn]

Rocky that's what I was saying. // The fact that he has been missing payments will go against him//

It was just to pi$$ him off, cause him some form filling, panic him a bit the fact that they would be going on about his erratic payments.

gloom you really need to tell the bank that you don't live there.

[hc4361]

bednobs, he's been living there for two years without paying her any form of rent, too.

[Barmaid]

Potentially a cheaper way to do it is to see if you can find a barrister who will do this on a direct access basis. It sounds reasonably straightforwards, you just need someone to draft the proceedings for you. go to the Bar Council website and look for barristers who do trusts/property law in your area.

[Barmaid]

PS - on the rent/mortgage question - he has paid the entire mortgage but has paid no occupation rent. One is likely to cancel the other out.

[tonywiltshire]

You will not get legal aid for conveyancing and you will probably be jointly and severally responsible for the mortgage, so you will probably be unable to obtain a mortgage on another property. If your ex-partner is unable to buy your share of the property it is extremely unlikely any one else who is a willing buyer will want to purchase 50% of a property.

Sale of the property is the obvious answer and you should try to convince your ex-partner that property sale is in his best interest, if the mortgage is not paid regularly the mortgage provider may repossess and sell, but with depressed values they may not be interested in this course of action and will probably not obtain the best price anyway. Barmaid has given you one option or you can consult a solicitor, despite what Terino00 says a solicitor may save you a great deal of money. The fact that you have not directly contributed to the mortgage but have made other household payments will have permitted you ex-partner to be able to pay the mortgage.

[gloomanddoom]

Thanks for the advice everyone, I looked online and found somewhere where I can submitt the evidence and get everything drawn up for a fee.

I will explain it to him, in writing and see what his response is. With any luck he'll get his head out of the preverbial and face up to what needs to happen.

In hindsight we should have had an agreement drawn up before purchasing the house years ago, I certainly won't be making that mistake again.

[ladsmum42]

Your problem sounds exactly like my Boyfriends issue,He walked away 5 years ago with nothing, continued to pay mortgage for a year to give his ex time to sort the payments out, and they verbally agreed that she would get his name off, he didnt want anyhing from the propertry, but she kept stalling, however after 5 years he got a solicitor to request she do something, and then she just stopped paying the mortgage......She has made it clear that it is just to stop him moving on. I think its important that the two parties take responsibility, but in certain cases when it appears a deliberate act to spite the other party something should be done. My boyfriend is representing himself in court, to force the sale, and he has put in for costs too, he still doesnt want money from it just his name off so he can get a mortgage himself, but ofcourse he will have a black mark against him due to the non payment of mortgage. But hopefully mortgage companies will look kindly on him when he explains what has happened. His ex has him by the short and curlies. and apart from court which is costly ansd stressful theres nothing he can do. Good luck with your issue, Hope it all works out, and remember Karma...the best revenge to these sad people is yo live your life and be happy.

[LillaP]

Hi, My partner is in an almost identical position with his ex being totally uncooperative (spiteful in fact) I was wondering if anyone has actually been through courts to resolve this and how that turned out ? time wise and cost wise ? thanks on advance x