Ex’s Legal bill secured against home

[Insertquirkyname]

Hi, I would massively appreciate any advice on this! My husband and I split 3 years ago and I remained in the FMH which was mortgaged in his sole name. I immediately put a charge on the house under the family law act yet 3 months later he secured a Novitas loan for 60k against the house for his legal expenses.

Fast forward to the court judgement and I have been awarded 100% of the home with the mortgage to be paid off in full by him. He hasn’t paid the mortgage for 18 months so I need to sell the house before it’s repossessed on 31 October.

However, because his loan is secured against the house I need to pay his bill out of my equity! It’s galling! He will then owe the money to me instead of Novitas but given his track record I won’t see a penny. I represented myself to keep bills low yet having to pay his!

I feel that because the loan was secured after my charge was on the house the loan was secured illegally. Do I have a leg to stand on? How should I go about it please?

This 60k is the difference between us finding a new home or moving back with my parents. Thank you for reading.

Contact a lawyer. Most offer a free consultation. Better than guessing.

Also you should contact a lawyer to get the arrears paid too!

He’s claiming he has no income but the reason I did quite well in the case was because the court believed he was concealing funds- it’s too soon for me to return to court to enforce and her probably just declare himself bankrupt and it’ll cost me more money. So for now, I’m just going to take on Novitas myself and see how far I get.

Some info here:

www.irwinmitchell.com/about-us/newsletters/im-on-the-money/im-on-the-money-issue-ten/home-rights-notices-what-is-the-point

But go and see a solicitor. It's surely worth spending a couple of hundred pounds for proper legal advice in such a situation.

Thanks foxy, that link was helpful.

I completely agree re: legal advice. I might have to sell the house and then dispute it with legal help- today I can’t even afford petrol!

Do you have legal insurance on your house insurance? If you do, it might be worth asking them... Not sure that standard divorce stuff is covered, but something like this they might at least point you in the right direction...

Thanks- great shout I’ll check tomorrow!

You would have been better off not simply registering your marital homes rights, but applying for a notice to support your pending action.

Hi insert quirky name - you should definitely take on Novitas, they've set aside £6m to compensate - I'm NOT a lawyer, but please PM me and I'll give you the heads up. sorry I didn't see this message when you first posted.

Why have you rezzed a zombie??

As someone get here already, what was the outcome op ? @Insertquirkyname

Because there's a lot been going on with these types of loans lately, and I didn't see the post when it was originally put out.. Why do you ask?

Hi, check out this decision on the Financial Ombudsman website for details, and also look at all upheld or otherwise decisions relating to any of these types of loans... for Ratesetter search under Retail Money Market.

Complaints upheld re mis-selling and unaffordable lending, solicitors found to be acting as agents for the lenders etc etc.

What's your interest Hawkins? You need to know solicitors have been watching these posts and touting for business... I'm not one.