Husband has taken out a secured loan against the house without informing wife

[SIeek]

Hello,

This is my parents current situation. I’ve just spoken to my mother who has informed me that my father has taken out a substantial loan against their mortgage free house. My fathers only real income his state pension and my mother works 3 days a week for the NHS. The house has hugely inflated in value in the last couple of decades but their monthly income only just about pays the bills.

From what I’ve read online, this must have been taken out fraudulently as they are joint owners and she has not given her consent. I also have no idea how he got it approved as his income is so poor, I worry about what kind of interest rate he has. (I really don’t understand these kind of loans FYI and am trying to wrap my head around it all.)

Does anyone know what can be done? My mother is terrified of losing the house and apparently my father is thousands of pounds overdrawn so we have no idea where the loan money has gone, not to mention where all his savings have gone.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Whereabouts in the UK is the house?

Is it a secured loan with monthly repayments or has he done equity release?

Op I’m so sorry to do this.

My DF did this to my mother when I was a teenager. Our home was mortgage free and he took out a massive loan secured against our home.

Our home was repossessed by the bank.

I will never forgive him for that as it was reckless and was such a traumatic time for me and my family.

I would seek help from citizens advice.

*so sorry to hear this

@YoureRockingTheBoat It’s in England, Sussex.

@ChaChaRealSmooth Not clear I am afraid. My mother said it was a secured loan but I think she did mention something about equity release as well. Is there a way she can find out?

@Doveytail Oh gosh. I am so sorry that happened to you. It’s upsetting enough to hear about it as an adult, but to go through that as a child is really awful and you must have felt so helpless.

The situation is a bit murky at the moment but if what my father has done costs my mother her house I don’t think I could forgive him. She has worked so hard for it and is just about to retire. I am going to fight tooth and nail to prevent that if it comes to it.

Could she go to the police? Surely he must have forged her signature on the loan document? I'd be raging if my dh ever pulled something like that.

I’m afraid that I only know the answer in Scotland. Your mother should seek legal advice. Needless to say that any strictly legal analysis based on fraud is complicated by the fact that they are in an emotional relationship.

How has she found out about the loan? The first step is to contact the lender and ask to see the documentation which was signed. Once she can establish whether / that her consent and signature has been forged, she can begin progressing with the lender’s fraud procedure.

I think you can buy the property title for not very much online (use the gov.uk legit one) and you can find out if there is a secured loan and who made it. I think your mum is going to need some legal advice here, of her own, from a suitably experienced lawyer. Does your dad still have capacity?

Should be able to check with the land registry.

I’m so sorry op. What a mess. Does your mum want to stay with your dad? Not much info here to go on. Is it gambling?

Is your Mum sure she hasn't signed something by mistake?

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I’ve just purchased a copy of the title register for the house on gov.uk. There are no charges listed there (except one from 1897). Does this mean there is no loan secured against the house? Or is it that it’s not been updated?

Usually the loan company would register a charge over the property with LR so that the property cannot be sold without the loan being discharged first. Is your DM sure that this is what has happened?

The Land Registry has quite the backlog. At work (I work in property law) we have a portal where we can check if there are outstanding applications against a title. This is a business portal option though and I'm not sure how you'd be able to find out. You could try calling the Land Registry, giving them the title number and asking if there is an application lodged. If there is they should also be able to tell you the firm who have lodged it.

As an aside, if someone called me and explained the situation to me, I'd check it for them while I was on the phone even if they weren't a client. It takes 2 minutes and it's free. Others I work with wouldn't unless we were instructed to investigate. Might be worth a try with a local firm though as it would be quicker for them to check than to sit on hold with the Land Registry!

If your dad has done this, I'd recommend your DM speaks to a litigation team at a separate law firm to the one who represented your dad (assuming he was represented) to get advice on how best to proceed. Check if she has legal cover under her home insurance and, if so, get her to give them a call to see if this would be covered.

Good advice from @Cakedoesntjudge . The Land Registry has months long back log. Pending applications are shown on the "day list".

Your DM really needs to have a frank conversation with your DF to understand what he has done and how he has done it. She cant get any useful advice without knowing this. Then agree with PP that she should try and contact the lender and see what documentation has been signed. This should put her in the best position for getting proper advice. Good luck.

If he has done this fraudulently I would report him and the bank.

How had she found out? The payments of the loan now on the bank statement? Has she looked back through his emails? To see the signed documents?

Is your dad still living at home ? What does he say when asked ? Is he being scammed? I lost my home as XH remortgaged 9 bloody times ! I had no idea . Your mum needs legal advice to make sure that if when she divorces him , the money comes out of his half of house . Wish her well x

Can she ask your dad for the details, and why he took it out.

If its equity release then having a bit of extra cash and better standard of living isn't a bad thing, when the time comes HMRC will take a significant amount in inheritance tax anyway.

I would focus on redress from the lender. Even if your father forged your mother’s signature, there is no excuse for the failure of financial controls by the lender - one party forging a signature is a well-known risk, and the lender should have taken steps to assure themselves that all parties to the loan consented. The lender will hopefully be financially regulated and there are strict rules around control requirements for regulated companies. It doesn’t sound as if money-laundering controls have been followed, for a start (not that this is money laundering, but the failure to do the usual checks is evidence of poor processes).

It’s a waste of time worrying about what your father has done (other than to establish the exact situation) because he is not in a position to make financial redress. Even if he were imprisoned for fraud, it wouldn’t help your DM retain the house.

I think its also important t
To work out where all the money is going..if hes got a gambling addiction he could be losing more every day that this isnt addressed

Have you asked him what he's done?