Forced sale - abusive ex refuses to accept any offers for a jointly owned house

[tryingtobecomefree]

Anyone been through a forced sale?
Two months ago I managed to gain an occupation order for a property I lived with for 20 years with my ex partner. I left due to threats to myself and children the youngest was 17 at the time. I requested 18 months ago that the house was to be sold, there was building work outstanding, I funded half and he had agreed with my solicitor to fund half, he was given 6 months to complete and then the house could be sold.

Long shot was he didn't pay the builder who was his friend, they came to an agreement to pay in instalments which he didn't keep to nor tell me, I was sent invoices to show he had paid , I stated I would not fund until my ex had paid half. The building work then stopped leaving me with an unfinished property which was not signed off by building regulations.

It took numerous visits to the family court to gain an occupation order so I could take control of the property. He was given a power of arrest order to keep away from the property for 9 months. On going back into the property various parts of the property have been damaged, making the house less attractive to any buyers. He also did not keep to the legal order and has missed and reduced the payments that were part of my occupational rent while I couldn't live there.

My ex partner lied in court and said the house was finished and he had no where to live as had gone on the sick. It was noted by the judge at the final hearing that my ex partner appeared to be purposely delaying things. Legal orders by various judges stated I should be given the right to buy my ex partner out and the house should be put on the market.

The house has been on the market for 9 months, it has been reduced once in price already pushed by my solicitors and the court. We have had multiple viewings and a cash offer of which my ex partner has point black rejected . I have offered to buy him out 8 times, at the market value and previously at a higher rate before I saw what had happened to the property.

I understand I will now how to go for a forced sale, I am not able to get legal aid even though I dont earn a huge salary, I spent over £15k getting the occupation order, I am guessing I will have to represent myself. Has anyone done this and have any advice/tips? I would have done things so differently if I was aware of how the family court worked and not given my ex any chances. I have learnt by this and wondered if anyone had any advice 🙏🏼

Slightly different but similar situation. I don't know about the occupation order etc but a problem I had was when you accept an offer, it isn't binding until the contract is signed. My bad guy and I verbally accepted an offer on our house and then he refused to sign the contract, the estate agent took down their board as "we" weren't fulfilling our obligations and of course the potential buyer withdrew his offer. Leaving me stuck maintaining the property and paying all the bills until I went to civil court and he had to sign the contract of sale. It cost over £10,000 and literally years.

I wish you luck but you must keep going back to court even though it's expensive. The game is to cost you so much money (and time) that you can't afford to go to court and then he gets financially rewarded for abusing you. Don't back down, don't be ground down, stick with it and trust the judge has his number.

Thankyou for this, and so sorry you have had to go through this also, the occupation order was made as he wouldn't leave the house, leaving is all homeless in the process but was dragging out getting estate agents in or putting the house on the market.

The estate agents have been great but did say if he is refusing to accept offers at the market value then it is pointless bringing round potential viewers, which I completely understand. I am currently looking at ways to fund the court costs as I feel it is the only option sadly! Can I just ask did you go for a TOLATA or was it an order for sale and also did you have to apply for a CCJ first. Apologies these are all legal terms I have been reading about that I may need to look at ❤️

That's the problem with estate agents, they won't help you they will only shift themselves if they are sure they are getting their commission. Don't trust them or confide in them just insist the case is due to wrap up any day. You walking into court with one or more written offers puts you in the strongest position. Your ex knows this and that's why he's tried to make the house unsaleable.

My lawyer started a non-molestation injunction but it didn't go anywhere. My bad guy wanted to intimidate me into leaving and then taking possession of the house without buying me out. I managed to get it resolved through years of solicitors letters back and forth where I proved to his solicitors that he had repeatedly misrepresented the situation. In the end I went back to the person who had made an offer and asked him to please make the offer again in writing so I could present it at court (he was a builder/developer). I took the written offer to my solicitor and she included it in my petition. The other side's solicitor wrote a defence that was clearly worded to go in my favour (he explained his client's illegal actions were caused by mental health difficulties rather than just glossing over or not mentioning what he'd done). When it came time to hear the case the magistrate informed me that the defendant didn't wish to proceed with the case and had agreed the sale. I got a tiny tiny amount of compensation. It was all horribly traumatic and expensive but without the court it never would have ended.

Thankyou for this , I also was originally going for a non molestation order but in the end the occupation was enough as the judge has added a power of arrest if he comes near the property or try's to pester us. I left as I refused to be around a bully who thought it was ok to threaten myself and the kids and his line was it was your choice to leave , Im not stopping you coming back 🤯. Your post has given me further hope. He also has now played the I'm sick card and hasn't worked for over a year. Our issue was that he stopped paying his solicitor , so we were sending numerous letters and emails and they would not respond but again I still had to pay for the contact. I have contacted a few solicitors this evening and will keep going, the daft thing was in my original offers I had offered him way more to buyout and the same in court but he refused as still wanted more. Its a hard lesson to learn but I am really appreciate your advice , Thankyou🙏🏼

I think it's a good thing he has shown he is flakey and doesn't pay his solicitors, it all creates a picture of how he conducts himself... Also solicitors won't like him.

Get a few estate agents (preferably 3 or more) to make written valuations on the property, then take the middle figure as the value and offer half that amount. If you go to court with written evidence of valuations and clear reasoning behind your calculations (e.g. half each) you will be taken seriously. It wouldn't hurt to have pictures of the damage he has done as well.