Help - is there anyway to get my ex to complete on house sale?

[newstarts]

Quick Background - Ex Husband and I separated 4 years ago, divorced 3 years ago, he still lives in the house we jointly own and finally agreed to put it on the market 1 1/2 years ago, he refused every offer we had until Christmas when he finally accepted one and I thought things might finally happen. The buyer is a cash buyer who is buying it to rent out. However every property ex looks at to buy he tells the estate agent it isnt suitable - no reason, just not suitable. SO we got the feeling funny enough that he may not actually go through with the sale but he kept saying he would.

So at the start of the week the buyer had the boiler inspected and the engineer turned the boiler off straight away saying it was dangerous meaning ex now has no heating. Buyer decided still wants house but has reduced price to take into account new boiler she will have to install which I'm fine with. She wants to complete ASAP and to move things along has offered to complete, get the boiler replaced straight away and allow ex to rent the house for the price he currently pays for the mortgage until he finds somewhere (which about £400 pm less than she would get from renting it under normal circumstances). Guess what? Yes you have got it he still wont agree claiming paying rent will eat into his share of the profit - not sure how when it is the same as he is paying for the mortgage which comes from his wages not savings!

So basically in my eyes this just confirms he has no intention of selling. I need to know if there is a way to force him to complete on the sale - be this one or any future sale? I cant afford to take him to court as I'm on a fixed term contract which is due to end soon and I dont know if I will have another job by then. Or is there a way to take him to court but get it paid for from his share of the profits (not being selfish but it is him that is being unreasonable as far as I can see and going to lose us the sale). Even the estate agent has emailed me this morning and said he can't do any more and is going to have to tell the buyer soon that it isnt going to happen.

Any advice? Thanks

Pretty much the same thing happened to me. After 2 years of delaying it became clear that he planned to let the situation drag on forever - quite convenient for him as he was the one living in our flat. My lawyer was very slack and ended up charging me a lot for chasing him up (!), mediation failed (if one party is consistently very unreasonable, i.e. our exes, then mediation is a massive waste of time).
My advice would be don't wait any longer, and don't give him any more leeway. Hire a lawyer who specialises in housing, discuss costs in as much detail as possible so you know exactly what you're in for, and go to court as soon as you can. Judges kick a lot more ass in this situation than solicitors do.
By the way, don't let your ex use the false argument my ex tried on: "I should get more share of the value of the flat as a) you left me" (irrelevant!) "and b) I've been paying the mortgage the last 2 years and you haven't" (also irrelevant, you have been paying rent somewhere else cos he's enjoying YOUR house!)

Thanks Wiggins, thats exactly what he does say! I just ignore him as like you say I have paid rent on a property for 4 years now for me and the kids yet he sits in a 3 bedroomed house and complains about how much it costs in bills etc.

I will look into a property solicitor, I gave up on my divorce solicitor as again a lot of chasing but no result just a lot of cost.

The estate agent just told me that he seems to think if he stalls long enough I will just forget about it for the time being! Dont know why he thinks that as I havent forgotten about it in the past 4 years and me and the kids could really do with the finance.

Thanks

You need to see a divorce solicitor and get it straight in to court. I'm afraid there's no other way.