can't figure out best way to sort out this mortgage and loan situ?

[morgagedilemma]

Some years ago ex and I took out a mortgage on our house, one of those linked to a current account, so you save interest by having money in there and overpaying and so on.

Ours didn't work quite like that because as we paid mortgage we also dipped into reserve (reserve grew as mortgage paid off). We split up a few years ago but it's ended up there's about £19k now owing in total on both the mortgage and the reserve. I've now had a letter from the lender saying that, as we've overpaid, our term ends this month, so I have to repay the full amount.

What I don't know is what to do next. Tried to ask lender, they can't give me advice! Tried to ask a financial advisor, one wanted cash up front to advise, the other didn't understand my mortgage!

All I really want to know is should I remprtgage or even can I, my Ex is o/s at present. Would I need written permission from him?

Or do I use some savings and get a personal loan or borrow rest on my credit card? That's what my DP suggests but he's not an expert so said I should get advice, just can't find anyone to advise me!

I can't give any advice but we have just re-mortgaged and it took less than 7 working days from applying to getting a formal mortgage offer. If we weren't in a chain and waiting for solicitors it would have been released by now. So it's more than possible to get one in under a month. Plus if you are making efforts to resolve it and find the money the lender can't badger you too much.

8-12 weeks for a remortgage is wrong. I used to be an Independent Mortgage Adviser and my record from Application to Completion (funds in the Client's account) was 7 working days. Not to say you can't string it out much longer if there's a good deal & that's the timescale you want but if you need the money fast, it's doable.

OP get a good Whole of Market Mortgage Adviser. You will need to pay (not always upfront) but anyone who knows what they're doing will sort this out. You need a Remortgage with a Transfer of Equity.

www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en

Please seek legal advice before you do anything.

Ok, they just switched my rate a year ago. No affordability needed as the payments were lower.

Yes to switch a rate is just a straight forward thing no changes to the mortgage except the product. However taking off names and borrowing extra money is like applying for a new mortgage so all new checks

Spoke to lender today but it wasn't really helpful!

They couldn't, or wouldn't, tell me if I can get a mortgage without my ex agreeing.

They were trying to push me into agreeing to some kind of debt management, they told me if I agreed to that they could set it up immediately but they'd want me to pay a fair bit/ all my savings upfront, and then the remainder they calculated I'd need to pay 2/3 of my monthly pay on repayment!! Which seems crazy since you're only meant to put half your salary I thought?

I've worked out a mortgage would be much cheaper. But if they won't let me get a mortgage it feels I'm over a barrel.

They also told me to keep paying anyway even though the letter I got said the opposite.

Is it the Woolwich by any chance? We have reserve account too and are currently in the process of remortgaging and it took an AGE to explain what the reserve account was.

As the end of March is not long away, would a interest free credit card help temporarily then you can add it to the new mortgage agreement as a consolidation.

OP you need to just go elsewhere..We've just told you what to do for 2 pages and yet somehow you're considering a debt management plan?! You need to see a mortgage broker before you fuck up your credit history massively.

happy No I don't want a debt management plan. Where have I said I did?

I spoke to my current lender again because as was said upthread it was worth finding out if they would do a remortgage.

So I asked them if I could do a remortgage

They said I should do a debt management plan and give them 2/3 of my monthly salary.

That wasn't what I asked for, so I didn't agree it.

As my current lender clearly won't help me I will have to go to another lender, or broker.

I just wanted a simple answer as to whether I can get a mortgage without ex agreeing. Because if I can't, then I'll just put some on a credit card, and use my savings, and DP will lend me some which should just about get us to the amount I need and then as Todays said sort the remortgage out later (and yes it is Woolwich. It's been one hassle after another, I wish I'd taken a different mortgage. Last time I spoke to someone before all this they told me I was in arrears, completely wrong because they just didn't understand how it worked - when I asked how I was in arrears when I was paying 50% more than the required amount, they couldn't answer then accepted I wasn't. That's not relevant to the current issue but shows how much hassle it's been).

If it helps in the future, I was told (and have passed this information on to the new lender who accepted the explanation) the reserve account is a secured overdraft on the property.

Just go via a broker to remortgage away from then. Yes of course they'll be legal work involved to remove the other party BUT in the same transaction you'll be paying them off as agreed so nothing to object to? I would just say get a move on or otherwise if you leave it to late you might find come April you'll automatically show as "defaulting" on the Woolwich.

What I would do

1. Get a personal loan/savings/whatever and pay the £19 thousand and tell your current bank to stick it up theirs. This buys you some time.

2. Go to a mortgage broker and sort out a mortgage to buy the ex out and repay the personal loan. At this point you are buying him out so you don't need his permission.

In light of the tight time frames I think I would borrow the money necessary to pay off the 19k and get that done. You don't want it mucking up your credit score because once something is on there you are fighting a losing battle to get it off even if it's wrong.

I would then put in a formal complaint to the bank as their customer service has been rubbish. To have customers using a product that no-one understands is not good enough.

Order your credit reports so you know where you are and check that nothing erroneous has been recorded. Why did they think you were in arrears? Worth checking they haven't reported that to any credit reference agency.

At the same time I would find a broker and look to secure a mortgage. Unless you have significant debts or other commitments it seems likely that you would be able to secure a mortgage in your sole name. As pp said, provided your ex agrees at that stage to sell any share of the property he has to you you will not need his permission to get the mortgage. You will need to instruct a solicitor to deal with the sale/purchase. Your ex should instruct a solicitor too.

Your ex will only need to be notified/involved in a mortgage where it is taken out on the house whilst he still owns a share of it. If you are buying him out with the mortgage then he wouldn't be involved as the property will transfer to you when the funds are released.

The credit card should only be an issue as far as the credit searches required to get it will affect your rating. You generally don't have to declare loans/ credit cards on the application where they will be paid off by the monies being advanced (I assume you would pay off any loan/credit card used to clear the 19k with the mortgage monies.

Good luck!

Thanks all.

I've contacted a couple of brokers who are calling me back later.

Have also made a formal complaint to the lender. And am getting all my money together plus what i can get on cards so I can pay this off in full by month end.

Fwiw first direct were really lovely when I was getting divorced and when I was depressed, I'd be happy to recommend them.