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Original poster

A mortgage one

29 replies

Purpledaisies4 · 14/03/2023 13:54

Name changed for this one.

I've tried Googling but I can't find a straight answer, I'll try and keep it brief but might be a long one as not to drip feed.

My husband divorced ex wife around 6 years ago (horrible nasty abusive woman, he's been diagnosed with ptsd because of what she put him through and is still taking a high dose of antidepressants now but that's a whole other thread!) She made claims of unreasonable behaviour from him but it was actually from her.

Unfortunately due to her abuse he wasn't really of sound mind when they were divorcing, they (ex wife & her equally horrible parents) had effectively 'paid' him off with £25,000 & she got to keep the house. He is still named on the mortgage as she can't get a mortgage on her own or with anyone else it would seem. In the divorce paperwork they signed it is stated that he is not responsible for the mortgage (as agreeded by her) but we have a letter from the mortgage provider in the last couple of years to say he is infact still responsible. The divorce paperwork states that she must try to get him removed but we know she hasn't tried as she knows full well she can't get a mortgage on her own. He is no longer on the deeds to the house but as he's still on the mortgage and liable for it, in theory if she was to sell the house would he be legally intitled to any money from the sale?
Ideally we need to speak to a solicitor but we don't have the money for that at the moment.
I'll just add I've never owned a house so not 100% how these things work!

OP posts:
prh47bridge · 14/03/2023 15:01

Whether he is entitled to anything from sale of the property depends on the terms of the divorce settlement. Being on the mortgage is irrelevant. If the house is now hers outright under the divorce settlement, he is not entitled to anything when it is sold.

purpledalmation · 15/03/2023 10:27

Tell him to contact the mortgage company and get off the mortgage. Ridiculous to be responsible for a debt he doesn't benefit from.

prh47bridge · 15/03/2023 12:44

purpledalmation · 15/03/2023 10:27

Tell him to contact the mortgage company and get off the mortgage. Ridiculous to be responsible for a debt he doesn't benefit from.

That will not achieve anything. Until his ex meets the eligibility criteria for a mortgage, he will stay on the mortgage.

Foreversearch · 15/03/2023 14:20

@Purpledaisies4 make sure your DP has his email as one of the 3 permitted addresses for the property. It’s free and he can stop the house being used as security for loans etc.

CleaningOutMyCloset · 15/03/2023 14:58

Very much depends on what was legally agreed at the time

He could have signed a 'Deed of trust' which means he no longer has any entitlement to any equity in the house - this is regardless of him being on the mortgage or not.

This is what happened with me and my ex. My ex wanted his share of equity straight away, so I gave this to him, but he stayed on the mortgage as I couldn't get one on my own. I was responsible for paying the mortgage, he has no further claim on the equity, but it obviously meant he couldn't get another mortgage and if I defaulted his credit rating would be screwed. I did, after a few years, manage to get a mortgage alone. As it was legally agreed I would
So this asap. It was legally agreed that I had until our dd was 18 or in full time employment to so this.

A word of warning though, if she defaults on the mortgage it will impact his credit rating

DelphiniumBlue · 15/03/2023 15:09

He is still liable for the mortgage, and the mortgage company do not have to remove him ,unless they were party to the agreement between them.
Did he have legal advice at the time? Because that sounds quite an unbalanced agreement, leaving him responsible for the mortgage payments ( if she doesn't pay) without making her liable to at least compensate him if she failed to pay so he ended up having to. I'd expect such an agreement to give him the right to force a sale if she doesn't keep up the mortgage payments, and to have an end date shorter than the mortgage term.
Have you got a copy of the wording of the agreement?
I think you really do need to find the money to take it to solicitors and get their specialist advice on whether he can force a sale in any circumstances. Otherwise it seems almost punitively unfair that he remains liable for the mortgage but can't do anything to pay off that mortgage or to end it.

Original poster
Purpledaisies4 · 15/03/2023 18:13

purpledalmation · 15/03/2023 10:27

Tell him to contact the mortgage company and get off the mortgage. Ridiculous to be responsible for a debt he doesn't benefit from.

He already has & they won't take him off even thought it states in the divorce paperwork he's not responsible for it + when he contacted them a couple years ago they said he is responsible for it.

OP posts:
Idontgiveagriffindamn · 15/03/2023 18:21

The mortgage company are not bound by the judgement of divorce. If he’s agreed to stay on the mortgage then he should have been made fully aware that he would be liable for the debt and any default would affect his credit rating.
Personally I would seek legal advice to attempt to force the sale of the house. However he may not want to do this if there are kids involved.

drpet49 · 15/03/2023 18:26

Blimey he got completely screwed over didn’t he. I suggest you see a solicitor.

Original poster
Purpledaisies4 · 15/03/2023 18:26

He didn't get any proper advice at the time as 1) he couldn't afford it and 2) he was in no fit state and wasn't thinking straight due to her & her family, he was a mess, struggled to even lift a coffee cup some days.

He was declared bankrupt a few years ago so having a good credit rating if she defaults isn't really a problem but we get letters from the mortgage leanders if her direct debit goes unpaid so we assume she must be struggling, obviously we don't want them coming after my husband for it & just wondered what would happen if she had to sell up.

OP posts:
WinterMusings · 15/03/2023 18:33

I'd see a solicitor & see what he can do! If her parents are still alive maybe they can go on it or if they're not maybe she can pay enough off so she can get the mortgage on any balance in her name alone.

Poor sod was really screwed over .

prh47bridge · 15/03/2023 18:34

I assumed there had been a financial order. However, if he didn't get proper advice, there may not have been one. If the courts did not make a financial order, he may be able to make a claim against his ex now. He needs proper legal advice.

Original poster
Purpledaisies4 · 15/03/2023 19:30

Thanks all, yes he was completely screwed over even more so considering his parents gifted them money towards the the deposit.
Her parents are still alive as far as we are aware (he's been no contact with her since they split) & thankfully they never had kids together.
If we knew he could force the sale of the house and end up with money from the sale we'd speak to a solicitor but obviously we won't know that till we'd be able to speak to one so we are kind of stuck at the mo!

OP posts:
Mumsgirls · 15/03/2023 21:00

Surprised you say he is off the deeds. Worked for large mortgage bank for twenty years and they would never have allowed that. Probably as said a deed of trust , which could not have effect on a pre-existing mortgage.Did he not get legal advice? On my separation my solicitor who handled the ‘ transfer subject to mortgage, advised my other half to get legal advice.

Melonportal · 15/03/2023 21:18

If he has a claim for money from the sale of the house, it may well be owed to the official receiver to repay his creditors and the costs of his bankruptcy.

GloriousGoosebumps · 15/03/2023 21:29

Dh obviously needs to see a lawyer but has he considered what will happen if his ex wife defaults on the mortgage ie whether the property is worth more than the outstanding mortgage so that the mortgage company will get it's money from the sale of the property and so not need to come after him? I assume his ex wife is on a variable rate which has increased recently? Is dh under any obligation to help ex wife sign up for a better rate, should a better rate be available?

Elieza · 15/03/2023 21:34

I wonder if legal advice could be sought to prove he was not of sound mind when he signed his rights away?

Hes been well screwed over by that ex.

I don’t see how the mortgage company can make him stay in the mortgage if he says no. Surely they’d force sale if she’s started not paying? Better that than he ends up having to pay the mortgage on a house that’s someone else’s.

pinkySilver · 15/03/2023 21:40

I can't see how he can liable for a debt secured against a property that he does not own?

Original poster
Purpledaisies4 · 15/03/2023 22:07

Mumsgirls · 15/03/2023 21:00

Surprised you say he is off the deeds. Worked for large mortgage bank for twenty years and they would never have allowed that. Probably as said a deed of trust , which could not have effect on a pre-existing mortgage.Did he not get legal advice? On my separation my solicitor who handled the ‘ transfer subject to mortgage, advised my other half to get legal advice.

No unfortunately he was in no mental state or could afford legal advice, we believe it was all part of the ex wife's plan.
I'm totally clueless when it comes to houses/ mortgages as I've never bought a house, I'll Google deed of trust as I've no idea what that is 🤦‍♀️

OP posts:
BetterFuture1985 · 15/03/2023 22:42

These arrangements seem to have been briefly popular when your husband got lumbered with it. The trouble is that the person remaining in the house often had no prospect of getting their ex off the mortgage and so they should never have been allowed to have the house transferred to them and only been subject to best endeavours to get their ex off the mortgage. The right and proper outcomes would either have been an immediate order for sale or - if children were involved - sometimes a Mesher Order so the person not resident still benefited from the rise in equity whilst they could not buy.

The only right outcome in my view is an immediate sale of the family home these days. There is no excuse for a weaker party to squat on their ex's mortgage capacity. Renting is perfectly normal nowadays, with or without children. Unfortunately although courts prefer a clean break these days, parasites who refuse to improve their own circumstances like your husband's ex still get to use the benefit of someone else's mortgage capacity.

My advice would be to speak to a solicitor because courts are apparently keen to bring these matters to a head when one party is clearly not making best endeavours to get their ex off a mortgage. Birch v Birch shows the courts are willing to revisit what equity the non resident should get if the useless parasite in the house is not getting a mortgage in their sole name.

Motheranddaughter · 16/03/2023 13:14

He should never have agreed to transferring the title but staying on the mortgage
Hopefully he didn’t
He should definitely take legal advice

SeasonFinale · 16/03/2023 14:35

Legal advice now. If they had an agreement that was just foisted on him by her and her parents it may not be valid.

Original poster
Purpledaisies4 · 16/03/2023 15:14

Motheranddaughter · 16/03/2023 13:14

He should never have agreed to transferring the title but staying on the mortgage
Hopefully he didn’t
He should definitely take legal advice

Unfortunately he was in no mental state to know what he was doing, he put up with her for 14 years, 7 years after they split he's still recovering from it and still has really bad days

OP posts:
Original poster
Purpledaisies4 · 16/03/2023 15:15

SeasonFinale · 16/03/2023 14:35

Legal advice now. If they had an agreement that was just foisted on him by her and her parents it may not be valid.

Unfortunately we can't prove anything which is a real pain

OP posts:
prh47bridge · 16/03/2023 15:47

Purpledaisies4 · 16/03/2023 15:15

Unfortunately we can't prove anything which is a real pain

Show quote history

The only thing that is legally binding is a court order. An agreement is not a court order. If there was no court order at the time of divorce, he needs to consult a solicitor as soon as possible.