Buying a house that is due to be repossessed

[kedooo]

So me and OH are buying a house from his mother. Her house is being repossessed end of Oct (extended due to covid). We have had our offer from the bank, now our solicitor said he can't do anything until she gives her solicitor formal instructions to release the papers to him. I'm not sure if she's dragging her feet intentionally as she doesn't want to move out. What happens if this extends after end of Oct, do the bank then own the house and we can't buy it?

Also we are getting married next week and I want to change my surname, however will that slow down the mortgage application? We have a baby due in 5 weeks so we really wanted things to be completed by then but it doesn't look like it will be. We started this application 5 months ago, everything seems to have taken so long with it all. Any advice would be much appreciated :)

this sounds like a very bad plan if you are intending to live in the house yourselves. if you were planning to buy the house and keep your MIL there as a tenant then it's a slightly less bad plan.

if the person occupying the house was a stranger to you, my warning in this situation would be that it is all too likely that the sale would take place and the current occupant would then not move out, putting you in a very tricky situation trying to organise a legal eviction. with the current occupant being your MIL this becomes a virtual certainty.

I think most repossession sales happen when the property is already vacant? You see empty houses on Rightmove either for this reason or due to PEX for a new build.

Would you consider waiting a few months to change your name, once things have settled? You don't have to do it at the time of marriage, I added my husband's name much later on as I wanted to keep mine. I think passport applications are taking longer at the moment, although I only applied for a new one for DS1 last week, as his had expired, so not sure how long it will actually take.

Wouldn’t it mean you could buy it from the bank? Assuming they don’t already have another buyer. I would be inclined to talk to the bank who will take possession the week before if you’ve still not closed and say you want to buy it from them. You can’t buy from her once they own it no. I would first talk to her though and ask why/if she is dragging her heels. There is a chance her solicitor is being rubbish instead. Changing surname could slow down the application maybe but that’s something to discuss with your bank as to whether your current offer could just be extended to your new name , it won’t slow down the legals too much if at all ( as long as you make everyone aware when your name is changing) just finding side. In any case I’d reckon you’d want to have your name change done before you register the baby.

So she has been told by her bank she has a chance to sell it before the repossession to save them doing it. She will be making some money on the house. She is organising another flat to move in to. We both have solicitors so it is all legal (I.e we will have deeds on house and be the legal owners). We won't move in till she moves out. If we weren't buying it she'd have to move anyway as bank would own it soon even if we weren't buying it.

I am happy to wait before changing my name if it will cause delays, I did want the same last name as my baby but it's not a big deal to wait

You’ll be able to use your wedding certificate to put your married name on the birth certificate even if you haven’t changed it on anything else.

Thanks @louisetrees, I just wasn’t sure if her bank knew she was in process of selling if they would allow our sale to complete even if it isn’t by end Oct (we’re hoping it will be). I think she may be being slow because the reality is hitting her she has to move but I’m not sure. It is in her interests to sell to us as we are giving her money and she doesn’t have time now to sell to someone else.

I will ask her bank if we could buy off them though if it seems like it’s not going to be complete by end Oct and I will ask my bank about changing my name. I would like it changed before I register the birth. The birth needs to be registered 42 days after the birth doesn’t it, maybe I could try to delay it if it will cause problems I will see what my bank say. Thanks again, this is all new to me so I feel a bit clueless!

@Phoenix21 ooh that's great thank you! I didn't realise that's really helpful!

@kedooo

Thanks *@louisetrees*, I just wasn’t sure if her bank knew she was in process of selling if they would allow our sale to complete even if it isn’t by end Oct (we’re hoping it will be). I think she may be being slow because the reality is hitting her she has to move but I’m not sure. It is in her interests to sell to us as we are giving her money and she doesn’t have time now to sell to someone else.

I will ask her bank if we could buy off them though if it seems like it’s not going to be complete by end Oct and I will ask my bank about changing my name. I would like it changed before I register the birth. The birth needs to be registered 42 days after the birth doesn’t it, maybe I could try to delay it if it will cause problems I will see what my bank say. Thanks again, this is all new to me so I feel a bit clueless!

I thought it was 21 days but that might be pre Covid and just in Scotland

Changing your name is not relevant, it’s not done by deed poll you just change things and use copies of your marriage certificate, as such you can do that for your child’s birth certificate,

You will still be able to buy from the bank, just the bank will sell to the highest bidder. It is in her interests to sell to you because the bank will likely charge her way more than a private sale.

However if she’s dragging her heels maybe she doesn’t wish to sell to you both and would rather it was with a stranger than see her son live there and then have to visit him in the house she lost.

I’d talk to her if I was you.

@Bluntness100 thanks! So I could put my married name on the baby's birth certificate but not change it on passport, etc just yet. Just didn't know if it would affect things as I used my passport to apply for mortgage as ID and for solicitors.

Yeah I've thought that, she says she wants to go ahead though she does have depression so I'm just wondering if she's not working quickly as the reality is hitting now that she has to move

My childrens birth certificates are all in my married name, my passport and drivers licence are still in my maiden name nearly ten years on, I renewed my passport before the honeymoon and didn't want to pay to change it. Just make sure your married name is on at doctors/ your medical notes. Then the slip they give you to register the birth will be in your married name. No checks are made.

I still also own my house in my maiden name.

I think the change of name is a bit of a red herring

If I was your solicitor I would want to see your marriage certificate and would draw the deeds in name of MRS XY (formerly Miss XT)

The risk if you don't complete prior to the date the bank will repossess is that the Bank may then have to put the house on the open market.They have an obligation to get the best price.
IME Lenders often just want to follow the correct process,so will insist on putting the house on open market

Also if house sold by bank the cots will be much higher,so MIL will get less which I suppose is her problem

You should be buying the house with vacant possession,ie MIL moves out prior to completion.Apart from anything else your own Bank will insist on this

Hope this helps

@womaninatightspot thanks! I may just keep the house in my maiden name then but put my married name on the birth certificate, and at my doctors, etc

@user1487194234 thanks, yeah so it is in her interests not to drag her feet and sell to us really. She is planning on moving out, she said if she doesn't have her new flat sorted she will move in with a family member temporarily

Are you actually buying the house so you can live in it? Whose idea was that, as from one point of view that seems really quite insensitive to MIL, she's forever to be reminded of the home she was forced out of? Of course it could even have been her idea but I wouldn't be surprised she would have gotten cold feet

Your MIL needs to be talking to her lender about the October deadline. There’s not much you can do. If the sale is imminent the lender will probably wait, because it’s cheaper and easier for them is she sells it, and there will be a massive backlog across the industry after the end of October.

However, she will be needing to prove to them that she’s serious about selling it. Normally that would include showing the lender that it’s up for sale, and allowing lenders to talk to the estate agent to check progress. In this case she might want to let the lender talk to the solicitor so he can provide the assurances as to how close they are to actually selling it. If the lender doesn’t believe she’s actually going to sell they will continue with possession.

Name change etc should be straight forward

Thanks for the replies, it was her idea, we were in the process of buying another house. Our solicitor has said he can't do anything till he receives the documents from her solicitor. Can we email her solicitor to ask her to do this or is that not ok?

You can, but it won’t have any effect. Her solicitor will be waiting for instructions from your MIL as that’s their client