Ex will not let me have keys to joint property

[OhWesternWind]

Hi - we split up nearly 12 months ago and all that time I have been trying to get ex to hand over a set of keys to me from an investment property we bought together. He was the one that managed it, showed tenants round, etc and I never had anything to do with that side of it although I put up the deposit for it. So when he left I had no keys, paperwork etc relating to this property.

Ex has deliberately left the property empty since he left, which means that I am now having to use around half my child maintenance to pay for half the mortgage, frequently all of it if he decides he will not contribute that month. As I have no keys I cannot get a letting agent or estate agent round to either get tenants in or value it to put it on the market.

I think that ex is leaving the property empty just to cause me aggravation as he knows I am very short of money and he is rolling in it so it does not bother him. I can't see any other reason for it.

I have had a solicitor on this since June and he just procrastinates and waffles on about red herrings. Upshot is I am a good few hundred quid poorer from legal fees but with exactly nothing changed. My solicitor advises me not to take this to court as that will be very expensive, but the way things are is just ridiculous. There have been lots of solicitors letters going to and fro but no action whatsoever.

We are also in breach of the mortgage and insurance terms as these need the property to be tenanted, but again I can do nothing at all about it as I have no keys.

Help! What can I do please? Is my solicitor rubbish?

You may break in if you have it in joint names if necessary. Best thing is to crack on with the divorce & get the financial side sorted tbh.

Yes, don't bother with a solicitor.

Break in, change the locks, send husbands solicitor a set of keys. Either move in or let it yourself - he would probably need to agree to let it though so I would move in there.

Maybe that will piss him off enough to get on with the financial settlement.

Were you married or unmarried?

Even if you had keys you would need his agreement to rent out or sell the property. Alternatively you would need a court order to sell or transfer the property to one of you.

Your solicitor is right court proceedings aren't cheap. If you were married and the case isn't too complicated the cost to a final hearing would cost about £12k at least. On the other hand if you weren't married you would need to start proceedings under the Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 and that can be more complicated and therefore considerably more expensive.

Hi - thank you for your replies. We were not married. We have sorted out the property we lived in but he is being a real nuisance about this one for no real reason.

I don't live in the area any more due to ex's (serious) abuse of me and children so it is difficult for me to go and break in. And if I still need his consent to let/sell that doesn't get me any further.

I feel he just has me over a barrel with this one and is using it to vent his personal feelings in yet another way. I just want to be done with him and move on without having this financial drain every month.

I'd report him to the empty homes person at the local council. Is your name on the mortgage as well as registered as a part owner with the land registry? Are you registered with them as having an interest in the property so that he can't sell it/remortgage without your consent?

Thanks, yes my name is on the mortgage as well as with land registry.

What is the empty homes person? Never heard of this . . .

Ah, well, they hunt down people who own empty properties and can force them to rent them out. It's not wise to leave a property standing empty, it increases the chance of anti social behaviour, increases the chance of rats and some person who's in B&B accomodation could be living there.

Great - I have found the empty homes tel number for the local council there and will call them after the new year. You can report anonymously too!

Best of luck with this. He sounds like an absolute tit!

Thanks BB - would it be such a bad idea? If the property is rented out, even if this is forced by the council, then he can take all the time he wants to to come to an agreement with me about selling or whatever, as the main issue of having to pay out for the mortgage payment every month will disappear as it will be covered by the rent. I am assuming that we would have to share any surplus rental after the rent has been paid, or else put it in an account for maintenance etc but I guess that could be sorted out as and when.

There is some equity in the property I hope but as I can't get it valued I don't know. It is only a terraced house so if the court costs are £12k that would wipe out my share of the equity even if I am being optimistic about what the property would eventually sell for.

doesnt need to be 12k if you chose a junior barrister and he doesnt contest it once it gets to court. intitila hearing with junior barrister cost me 350£ for TOALTA schedule 1 -as it went on further the final two days came in at 3500 . total was way below 12 k . i would file at court to sell it. intitial fees plus paperwork a couple hundred. and if you just want access to get it rented out should be fairly straightforward?

Thanks Cestlavie - good to hear from someone who has been there. I will ask solicitor about this after the holidays and also if she thinks that we can get back costs from ex. Might focus his mind a bit! He probably would contest though just for the sake of being an awkward arse.

If he simply refuses to sell, forcing you to issue a TOLATA application, there is a strong possibility that the court would order him to pay your costs, as ordinarily in those proceedings the loser pays the winners costs.

cestlavielife wrote;

doesnt need to be 12k if you chose a junior barrister and he doesnt contest it once it gets to court. intitila hearing with junior barrister cost me 350£ for TOALTA schedule 1 -as it went on further the final two days came in at 3500 . total was way below 12 k .

On the other hand recently a woman self represented and the other side established a beneficial interest in the property. The value of her share was £50k, his £25k which she had to buy out and a costs order for £52k was made against her.

Whilst some litigants in person really have no choice because they can't afford legal representation and some manage very well there is an academic study that found LIPs make more serious mistakes far more frequently than solicitors. If someone self representing makes a serious mistake there is no redress whereas solicitors are regulated and insured for negligence.

Agree with those who say break in and change locks (and send spares to his solicitor, in the interests of fairness). Also suggest putting in a temporary tenant yourself? Just so it's occupied and looked after. You surely have rights that are equal to his. You do definitely have the right to do this as the owner if it's unoccupied, I've done it myself.

That should bring him out from under his stone and cover your interim costs. Establish what the ownership percentage split is and send his solicitor his share of the net profits.

If you don't do something about the occupation of the property, maintainance could be a real headache and you could get squatters anyway, the way things are going in the UK. (Doom and gloom, I know.)

You have to weigh up the amount of money you are being forced to fork out each month, and how much it totals so far and then look at how much it would cost to get up there, change the locks and get it tenanted through an agency.

I'm willing to bet ONE month ought to go a long way to covering the costs you would be incurring.

The permission of joint owners (+ mortgage lenders) is required before letting a property and letting agents require consent from both or all joint owners.

Listen to babybarrister and if negotiation isn't successful start TOLATA proceedings so you are no longer tied together financially.

For the LA to become involved an independent tribunal must be satisfied that a property has been vacant for more than 6 months, that it isn't reasonably likely to be occupied, sold or let in the near future before the making an Empty Dwelling Management Order. An interim order may then made for one year and agreement from the owners sought to rent out the property. Without agreement it could therefore be at least 18 months before the property is rented.

When after the interim order ends a final EDMO is granted the council has the right to possession of the property for a fixed period of time up to seven years, the authority to find a tenant without the owner's consent and to recover any costs for maintaining and letting the property. Owners therefore have fewer rights over the property eg to set rent.

Thank you everyone.

He is not actually refusing to sell - in fact over the last year he has never said yes or no to selling or letting the property out. He just keeps procrastinating, taking two months or more to respond to each solicitor's letter from me, not answering the issues in these letters and ignoring my requests for keys, valuations etc, raising silly and irrelevant points to try and confuse the issue, and from his point of view this has been a really successful tactic in that he has got away with doing nothing for a year.

I am going to speak to my solicitor about TOLATA. I would not self-represent for anything so I will ask for an idea of the costs involved. It would be great if costs were awarded against him but of course I can't count on that.

Thanks again.