I could be in serious trouble

[mamafridi]

My husband came back from the solicitors and was informed that we could lose the deposit for the flat we are in the process of buying.
We are 1st time buyers and have lived abroad for nearly 20 years so we were sometimes lost in the terminology in the mortgage contract and terms used by the solicitor, but At the same time I don't believe it is all down to our stupidity and that perhaps our solicitor could have explained specific terms especially as my husband is Italian.
The solicitor says the reason why we could lose the money we put down for the exchange is because as my husband's name is on the mortgage (as he is the only one working at the moment) that I would have to agree to be the "occupier" and it is this word which holds so much importance in the problems we are now facing. We thought occupier simply meant that I would be occupying the flat together with my husband and dd - nothing else. Instead, days after the exchange I received a letter from what was now my husband's solicitor that I had absolutely no say over the property and I was to sign an occupier's consent form more or less relinquishing all existence of where the equity was coming from, ie me and my husband equally. In that same letter I was advised to seek my own solicitor which I did and as a consequence of my wanting to have my name as part of the contributor of the flat we are buying we may lose our deposit, worse still lose the mortgage agreement altogether and the lose the flat. Then we could be sued by the people we are buying from and end up losing every penny we have worked our socks off for the last 18years.
I am at my wits end, we are awaiting the bank's opinion but completion is meant to be this Friday. Is there anything I can do?
Sorry if I am ranting but I am going out of my mind with worry.

I obviously haven't seen the consent form you are being asked to sign. However, normally these forms simply mean you agree that, should you and your husband fail to pay the mortgage, the lender has first claim on the property. This means the lender can throw you and your husband out and sell the flat in order to get their money back - this is known as repossessing the flat. Lenders started using these forms after a case in the 1980s where a bank attempted to repossess a property but was unable to do so because the mortgage was in the husband's name only and the courts agreed that the bank could not force the wife to leave.

This form does not alter the legal position if you and your husband separate. The flat will be one of the assets of the marriage to be divided between you.

What does your solicitor say?

The situation is a bit more complicated. As soon as we exchanged contracts last Wednesday I received a letter friday from what had been until then both my husband and my solicitors, informing me she was now solely working on behalf of my husband and that I was to seek out separate advice from my own solicitor. Attached this letter was the occupier's consent form. So basically the original so.icitor did not explain that this was going to happen. So as I was left to sort things out on my own I found myself another solicitor and it was him that told me to request the changes to the consent form. ANd unfortunately it was after he informed the original solicitor that everything has snowballed into this nightmare. I hope that makes sense!

Sorry, but it sounds perfectly normal and straightforward to me. There's no reason for you not to sign the consent form. All adults occupying a property to be bought subject to mortgage are required by the lenders to sign these.
There's also no reason not to complete the purchase on the contracted day.

It was 11 years ago now but I think I had to sign one of these. Several years later I applied for "home rights" from the land registry which meant XH couldn't just sell the property without my consent (or something) and now I own the hose outright following our divorce.

IIRC, I didn't contact my own solicitor when I signed it as it all seemed perfectly acceptable/understandable/straightforward at the time.

I'm so confused! When I went to my solicitor (the new one who is now working on my behalf) he read the conditions of the occupier's consent form and said that even though it was all standard it wouldn't be a problem to add the fact that I held equity in the proceeds to cover me for future problems if they arose. He made it seem so simple and not something that would then snowball into the mess it has become with my husband's solicitor. I wish I had signed the damn form and not seeked out a solicitor as it advised me to.

I have come to the conclusion that solicitors seem to complicate matters and not resolve them!