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Original poster

Joint mortgage in arrears - what to do !

19 replies

pumpkinpie01 · 31/03/2022 22:19

Could do with a bit of advice on behalf of my sister if anyone has any ideas ? She owns a house with her ex husband , well they aren't actually divorced but split approximately 6 years ago. She owns 60% him the other 40%, - joint mortgage. She pays nothing towards it and rents a separate house. She had just found out he hasn't paid the mortgage for the last 3 months which is obviously affected her credit score. I think she should see a solicitor and force a sale , but how does that actually work ? Or is there anything else she can do ?

OP posts:

Original poster

pumpkinpie01 · 31/03/2022 23:18

Bump

OP posts:

Drag0nFru2t · 31/03/2022 23:26

Contact husband
Contact the mortgage provider
I assume she is jointly responsible for the mortgage

Original poster

pumpkinpie01 · 31/03/2022 23:37

She won't get any sense out of him , he will probably lie to her. it seems he has upped his gambling habit so we suspect that's where his wages are going . Will the mortgage company expect her to pay the last 3 months do you know ? I really think she needs him out of the house as he has massively neglected it , so it's depreciating in value it's that bad .

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Drag0nFru2t · 01/04/2022 00:07

Definitely contact the mortgage provider, why wouldn't she
Ask to change to mortgage holiday
Or change to interest payments only

Start divorce proceedings too

Original poster

pumpkinpie01 · 01/04/2022 05:38

Do you mean change to interest only and her pay it or to protect her equity in the house ? ( she isn't in a position to pay it ) . The divorce is a whole other complicated matter , they got married in Turkey and should have done paperwork in England after which needs doing before they can get divorced but there is an issue with getting that paperwork done , I can't remember what now.

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LemonMuffins · 01/04/2022 05:39

She's jointly liable for the mortgage payments. They don't care who pays they just want their money. She definitely needs to speak to the provider.

She should initiate divorce proceedings asap and go for a clean break, including force of sale if needed. Presumably no children live there and there's no reason why ex can't live elsewhere?

LemonMuffins · 01/04/2022 05:41

She really needs to find out what paperwork she needs. Does she have her marriage certificate?

Original poster

pumpkinpie01 · 01/04/2022 05:43

How do you do a force of sale ? Their ds15 lives there at the moment, he flits from his mums to his dads. The ex should have moved out last year , it was agreed the house would be rented out to her oldest son and gf , and he let them down the day before much to everyone's disgust.

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carefullycourageous · 01/04/2022 05:50

She needs legal advice quickly, no one here can help due to the Turkey/marriage question but she needs to take some action.

Original poster

pumpkinpie01 · 01/04/2022 06:47

Right I will tell her Lloyds bank first then a solicitor. She can see that he missed 3 payments 2 years ago too but she didn't know that at the time . I think the ideal situation would be to get him off the mortgage and her move back in but can't see him agreeing to that . He is awful with money , he has an IVA at the moment so not sure he would be able to rent anywhere .

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Snorkello · 01/04/2022 06:54

Yep - always engage with the lender first. They will be able to advise and can be really helpful. Solicitor after. Then sort the house and get the credit score issue resolved. Can she buy him out? If not, sale is a must.

Original poster

pumpkinpie01 · 01/04/2022 07:01

@Snorkello she isn't in a position to give him even £5k , any amount she gave him would have to be a loan. I told her years ago to get back in the house as soon as it became clear he was massively neglecting it. As he has in large been paying the mortgage for 6 years if it is sold won't he get more of the equity than her ?

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Luredbyapomegranate · 01/04/2022 07:16

Contact citizens advice for basic advice on how to proceed. But she will need to formally contact her husband, the mortgage company, and yes instruct a solicitor to force a sale. The solicitor can advise on split of assets.

As long as the mortgage company know this is in process they should be co-operative, and yes will likely agree to a period of covering interest only.

If the house is in a bad state she will need to get that sorted pre-sale. She should be able to get a small loan against the value of the property.

Hopefully you can encourage your sister to get her shit together. It is bonkers to be renting while letting her asset depreciate, and bonkers to have her finances tied to a man with a gambling issue - she needs to get divorced. She’ll also need to contact the credit ref agencies to get a note out on her file (citizens advice can help with this too.)

Original poster

pumpkinpie01 · 01/04/2022 07:20

@Luredbyapomegranate thank you that's really helpful . Yea I agree the whole thing is bonkers , I think she should have just moved back in whilst he was at work one day , what could he have done ?! Don't think he would have got a solicitor, he probably would have just rented but now he has changed the locks and put cameras up so that's not exactly an option.

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Snorkello · 01/04/2022 07:35

Given they are married, the equity split should be 50/50 even if he’s been paying.

As others say, get proper advice and take it from there.

Luredbyapomegranate · 01/04/2022 07:41

[quote pumpkinpie01]@Luredbyapomegranate thank you that's really helpful . Yea I agree the whole thing is bonkers , I think she should have just moved back in whilst he was at work one day , what could he have done ?! Don't think he would have got a solicitor, he probably would have just rented but now he has changed the locks and put cameras up so that's not exactly an option. [/quote]
Blimey.

He’s going to be a pain in the arse then. So she needs to carefully stay on the right side of the law.

LittleOwl153 · 01/04/2022 07:48

If she owns (part) of the property, she has a right to live there. Whether he likes us, changes locks, installs cameras etc or not.

She clearly needs to speak to the bank and a solicitor. However if she cannot get him out or paying the mortgage consistently and she cannot get him to sell then if the only way she can pay the mortgage is yo live there rather than rent then maybe thats the best option?

Original poster

pumpkinpie01 · 01/04/2022 07:57

He didn't pay for 3 months 2 years ago , (she has only just found this out ) she is wondering now if he is due a work bonus and intends to pay 3 months in one go. Ideally she needs him out , when I say neglected imagine a 14ft trampoline in a garden , but you can't see the trampoline because of the weeds/grass are that high . What is the advantage of it being moved to interest only now ? If it's just to make it affordable for her now , that's not an option she is barely making ends meet at the moment .

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Original poster

pumpkinpie01 · 01/04/2022 07:58

@LittleOwl153 so do you think she could just have the locks changed and move back in ? She does own 60% of it

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