Ex partner hasn't paid his half of the mortgage & loan - very worried

[louby44]

My exP and I split and he moved out in February to rent with his new girlfriend.

We had bought a house together in 2009 and I am still living here with my 2 DS (not his children). We have both been paying half towards the mortgage, loan and life insurance that we have jointly. The house has been up for sale 4 months!

I put a large amount down to buy this house, he had nothing. Luckily my solicitor drew up a Declaration of Trust which ring fences my equity.

It was agreed that when the house was sold the loan and fees would be paid off and he would get a £5k payment - this was all drawn up by a solicitor. If he failed to make a payment his £5k would be reduced each month. We thought the house would sell quickly - it hasn't.

Mt exP is now pleading poverty, he has the taxman chasing him and we both approached our mortgage lender to get the mortgage reduced to interest only, they have basically refused saying based on in/outgoings we can afford the mortgage - we can't!

I waited all day for him to pay his money across to the account that our 3 joint bills come out of - he hasn't paid. Thankfully I've managed to scrape together money from family to cover it all.

What do I do now? I can't afford the mortgage and loan on my own. I plan to ring my lender later to discuss it but I am so angry that he has walked away from everything! Can he do that?

I don't blame him regarding the mortgage, he has nothing to gain from paying it each month, there will be no equity left for him once we sell.

Do I need to seek legal advice again? Can I take him to the small claims court to get back the loan money he hasn't paid.

Can't sleep and have been worrying myself sick!

Not sure on the legal side, but sales wise is it worth talking to the agent and having an open house with a reduced price to get people through the door again? If people offer less than what you want you can always refuse.

Hi and thanks for your suggestion.

We had an open house - no one came. I've had one viewing in 4 months! It's been reduced by £25k and is now up for sale for less than we paid for it!

I can't really drop it any lower. Although I think I may have to!

Unfortunately the price you paid for it is irrelevant. If you've dropped by £25k and still no interest then I'm afraid it's overpriced still. :(

You could do a NC and post the link to your house on rightmove and ask for constructive feedback on increasing the kerb appeal, to get that sale. What has the agent said?

When did you buy?

Unfortunately the price you paid a few years ago is simply irrelevant.

Look what similar houses are going for in the area.

Sorry, this sounds so stressful

I would talk to the Agent - see what they suggest to improve the marketing. Joint Sole agency with another more aggressive agent might help - or swap to another agent if your tie in period has ended.

We had a house that we tried to sell though Agent X, we got more foot fall than you but no offers. They actually suggested Joint Sole Agency (you just pay as for sole agency, they divide the money between them), the second agency had much more footfall and an offer pretty quickly - unfortunately that also collapsed quickly and other things changed and so we took the house off the market for a year. The next year we sold within a couple of months.

We bought in 2009. It's a large 5 bed detached on a big plot. Bought new. Houses locally are priced around the same. It's bright and airy, nicely decorated, large family garden. It's a gorgeous family home.

They have advertised it extensively, local newspapers etc

I just don't know what to do? I could drop it massively and walk away with a 40% drop in my equity!

That's the downside of needing a quick sale, unfortunately. As all the equity in it appears to be yours (I may have read this wrong) he will have worked out that he won't lose out whatever price you sell at. If he has no motivation to hold out for a higher price and if he defaults on the payments you're going to struggle on a lot of levels. Therefore I would say that you should take the hit and price it attractively. Your first offer is going to be your best offer.

40% drop in equity is better than 100% of nothing if house is repossed and sold for what ever it will fetch
i sold mine for what i could get and saw it as a way of starting a new beginning for me and dcs
good luck

When you say you can't drop the price, do you mean that you are in negative equity? I'm confused as you say you out down a large deposit.

My equity keeps getting chipped away at each time I drop the price. I know I need to be sensible but it will affect what I can eventually buy!

He paid the mortgage this morning so a slight reprieve!

Oh if it was bought new... sorry but they quite often do take a while to regain their value or increase.

Is there anyway you can stay put? Lodgers (can be tax efficient). Foreign students - teens can be not too bad, especially if only here for a week or two, you give them bed and breakfast, and an evening meal, and a cheapish packed lunch; lots of people I know do this.

I was going to suggest a couple of Lodgers too, it might enable you to keep the house.

I've just advertised my top floor, which is empty. It's got a shower room and a large room, plus a smaller room so pretty self contained.

I've had an enquiry but just waiting to see if they reply or whether it's a message to make me set up and pay for an account with them.a lodger definitely help.

Fingers crossed!

Sorry to sidetrack. If your lender agrees to interest only then they will mark AP on your credit file, this means arrangement to pay. This will possible stop you obtaining credit in the future. Are you buying on? Do you need a mortgage? The lender rarely tells you they are putting ap on your file, I see this regularly.

Go on right move, put in the price of your house, click on properties recently sold. This is your true competition, what buyers have bought instead of your house. The internet and estate agent encouraging buyers to view is what sells the house (not the newspaper usually).

On your search of right move on sold houses, which agent has the most sold. Ring them, chat to them and put it on the market if you like what they say. If they come into your house and are confident they will sell Negotiate a 4 week contract, stops them giving you flannel. If they object remind them they said that they would sell it easily. If the fee concerns you as it eats into equity this can be a false concern.

Ie agent a. Sells house for 300k but charges 6k fee.
Agent b. Sells house 295k but charges 3k fee or doesn't manage to sell it at all.

If the agent doesn't fight for their fee are they going to fight for the best price for your house from the buyer. They are paid to errr negotiate! (I am NOT an estate agent!!!).

There is a website where you can rent storage space. Rent your Garage? Store mates, I think.

In some places (like here) you can rent out parking spots too - can even just be for commuter hours.

43 my lender has told me it wouldn't affect my/our future credit history.

I do want to buy on but am willing to rent initially to move quickly, not hold up a chain and potentially build up my credit history again (if it is affected)

It's just been reduced again so shall hold fire for another week. I've looked extensively at RightMove and house prices/sales and it's sensibly priced now!