Hey guys, I’m sorry this is long but I’ll try and shorten as much as I can. Me and business partner opened ltd co in March 22. I had a 34% share, him 66%. I put £8500 into the business. We purchased a property under ltd co in Oct 22 but had to each give a personal guarantee on the mortgage. We were to turn the property into a HMO. We did not need a HMO licence but still had to adhere to fire safety and HMO guidelines. In December 22 my BP had arranged for 4 people to move in without me knowing. The relationship became frosty as he was keeping things from me. There were 4 lots of rent coming into the property. He then put the property up for sale with an agent who specialises in HMO sales as you can sell for more than bricks & mortar due to annual yield. In Jan 23 we received a section 255 from Bradford council housing team as they wanted to carry out a full inspection of the property to ensure we were adhering to the HMO criteria. After inspection, in March 23, it was deemed that we did not meet the requirements to be a HMO. It would cost around £5,000 to complete the works needed. My BP was angry and asked where the money would come from to pay for the required work. He did not believe we were a HMO. He stated we were a shared house. At this point, the property was advertised with the agent as a HMO to get a higher sale price. My BP did not intend to carry out any of the works and instead, ended 2 of the tenancies so that appeased the housing dept but lied to the selling agent and wanted to still proceed with the sale as HMO. I could not sleep for worrying over this as I am a mortgage broker with a license (he works in construction), I could not be part of this deceipt/fraud, as once a buyer was found and the sale completed, they would then find out that we were not actually passed as a legal HMO due to a 4-page list of safety requirements. He told the agent we still had 4 tenants and all necessary checks had been passed with the council. He basically lied to them about everything. I suggested renting the property to a single-family unit, we could then start to save and make the relevant adjustments for the future. My BP turned nasty and told me I was scuppering the deal and I had two options, deal with it or go away. I could have lost my license/career over this and felt bullied and intimidated by him and the communications started to get nasty. In the end, under complete duress, I had no option but to send a text stating that I did not want to be part of the business or its runnings. He removed me from the company bank account, removed my significant control on companies house and made everyone aware they were not to give me any information. Once I was out of the picture, he contacted an agent who I sourced originally, took the property off the market and rented to a single family unit as I had wanted! The only reason I sent the text was due to his fraud/deceipt over the sale. I would not have wanted out if everything had been above board and legal. He wouldnt respond to any of my emails and I was completely frozen out. From March 2023 he has received £1300pm in rent. I have all the rental statements from the agent. BP has the rent paid directly into his other ltd company and not the one that actually owns the property. Is that legal?
I want my initial deposit back (£8,500) and also my personal liability removed from the mortgage. But as I am constantly ignored I offered him mediation, which he ignored. He has now fully removed me from the company on companies house, I haven’t agreed other than the text message sent under duress in March 2023 and i havent signed anything. Can he do this to me and just keep my money? I can evidence everything regards the deception to the agent for sale etc. He has my savings, I am no longer party to the company yet I still have a personal guarantee for the hefty mortgage debt. I feel helpless and out of my depth. Can he dothis to me?
Please help. Thank you for reading.
Jenny