Joint Mortgage, where do I stand?

[Purelyfictional]

Hi! My situation is a little bit complicated so I'm hoping somebody has some advice for me.

I moved into a new house with my (ex)fiancée 4 weeks ago. We're both women. Getting a mortgage was a bit of a struggle. She paid for the deposit and a substantial sum towards the house using inherited money (her mother died last year). The plan was for her to get a mortgage for the rest (171k) in her name, and I would pay towards our living costs each month.

Unfortunately, my (ex)fiancée has a terrible credit score due to being financially abused in the past. She asked for us to have a joint mortgage, as my credit score is good and this was the only way we could go ahead with getting the house.

I wasn't able to contribute financially because I'm currently earning less than minimum wage as an apprentice, training for a professional career. She fully supported and encouraged this, convincing me that we'd make enough money between us to get by. Once I qualified, we would have much more financial equality and of course we were going to get married anyway.

Everything fell apart 2 weeks ago when she announced that she was leaving me. It's all been very out of the blue.

So where do I stand now? My name is on the mortgage, so this is my house, but I haven't contributed financially. As far as I can tell, I have the right to live here until I can find somewhere else.

I feel it would be morally reprehensible to push for any financial gain from this, but what are my legal rights?

Thank you all in advance. This was meant to be our family/forever home, I'm beyond devastated.

As she's used you greatly please make sure you can walk away from this without financial burden.

Be clear (for yourself) as when she realises the financial impact of her decision to split, she may start back tracking. You can't trust her motives now.

You need to get legal advice.

You need compensation for not getting first time buyers discount again.

You'll not being able to rent until the house is sold. Do not leave under any circumstances until this is resolved. She can't ask you to leave and she can't change the locks.

Don't let her start saying that as joint tenants you both owe towards the fees to sell the house. This can come out of the equity in the house.

Or that you both owe towards the early redemption fee on the mortgage. This too can come out of the equity in the house.

Ultimately this house has to be sold to release you. If you've had this much bother getting a joint mortgage due to her poor credit rating, there is no way the mortgage company will now release you from the contract. You are their safe person and you a both equally liable for the debt.

Once she realises this I fully expect her to back track. It's going to cost her a substantial sum to get out of this. I think she's banking on your naivety and hoping you'll just leave and she'll have her house.

Make sure your back is covered. It could get nasty.

OP, don't go to the solicitor who did your conveyancing for advice on this issue. You need your own solicitor to fight your corner, effectively a divorce lawyer who's used to helping people untangle this sort of situation.

Fingers crossed that she didn't ring-fence the deposit and that you can have your 10% from the equity in the house.

I'm wondering if taking out a mortgage and then redeeming it almost immediately is going to knock your credit score. Others may have specialist knowledge. What an awful situation. A very hard way to learn life lessons.

You might want to chat to Citizens Advice but I suspect they will recommend getting legal advice.
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/how-to-separate1/deciding-what-to-do-when-you-separate

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/if-you-were-living-together/what-happens-to-your-home-when-you-separate

I’m pleased to hear you have taken legal advice.

On the face of it, if you are joint tenants and provided your partner has not ring fenced her deposit via a deed of trust/second charge on the house then LEGALLY you OWN 50% of the house.

You cannot simply be ‘taken off’ the mortgage.

Either

a)your partner must re-mortgage to buy out your share

or

b) the house is sold and you are owed 50% of the equity (minus any protected deposit).

I really appreciate all of the advice, it’s a long time since I felt like anybody was in my corner so it’s really made me feel supported.

I’m 99% sure she didn’t ring fence the deposit, but that would obviously make the shit hit the fan. So I’m really hoping that’s not the case.

The solicitor I’ve contacted is completely independent from the one we used when buying the home, I felt like it would be better to seek someone totally separate from the situation.

I’m scared about how this is going to go and I have a feeling she really won’t like what’s going to happen. I’m staying put until my name is off that mortgage though.

Sorry meant to say if joint tenants then legally you both own the house 100% not 50/50.

If your partner hasn’t protected her deposit theoretically you could be entitled to 50% of any sale price.

You are very wise to seek legal advice.

To me it sounds like she wanted to buy a house, couldn't with her credit rating, so needed yours. Stayed with you until the house was secured then thought she no longer needed you so ended the relationship.

Probably playing into my own story there, but it's terribly coincidental isn't it...

Can you sell a house so soon after completion, I thought you had to have lived in it for at least 6 months, also you could incure a big fee for redeeming the mortgage so soon, especially if you took out a fixed term mortgage.

However i guess as you havent contributed anything financially to the house purchase then you have nothing to loose

Yea you can sell a house whoever you like. Although there may well be mortgage penalties. Even if they put it on the market next week it’s unlikely to be sold and complete in less than 6 months anyway though.

*whenever

A final thought this morning. If you can find any evidence that you have been used and abused in order for her to obtain a mortgage it might be worth considering taking this to the police. Has she been coercive in other ways? I note that she persuaded you to take up an apprenticeship which made you vulnerable and more dependant on her. I'm a lesbian and I've seen several relationships in which some really callous and conniving women have abused and ripped off their partners in shocking ways.

Do you have family or friends in a position to bail you out with a cash injection or accommodation if it all goes pear-shaped? If your'e doing an apprenticeship is there any support from the college end of your life?

I don’t feel that she manipulated or coerced me in any other way in our relationship - I genuinely feel that she’s having a mental breakdown due to grief and has gone into self-destruct mode. We were very happy in our relationship up until a couple of weeks before we moved house, when she became distant and started pushing me away. I thought it was just the stress of the move. The timing wasn’t great either, because the week we moved was also the anniversary of her mum’s death. She’s sunk into a deep deep depression and she can’t see anything beyond her own feelings right now.

Thankfully, I do have a supportive family who I know would provide assistance if I need it. I moved a few hours away from home to be with my ex so they’re not close enough to stay with unfortunately. My workplace and college are both being extremely supportive while I’m going through this.

Is the house registered as a joint tenancy in both of your names? And the deposit isnt ring fenced?

Then legally half the house is yours. Morally you need to sell it and release to you half of any amount it has gone up in that time (because you getting the mortgage has enabled that) any costs that you have paid and also the money that you will now lose having lost the rights of a first time buyer

And she would need to pay the possibly fairly high mortgage charges

I'm so sorry to read this, it sounds like she was just using your good credit to secure a mortgage.

Don't move out until you get legal advice and get this settled. I'm sorry to say I also think she used you to secure a mortgage. Don't feel guilty about anything! You were trusting of your Partner, she screwed you over. It's your house too!!

Sorry you're going through this OP :(
It does sound like your ex-partner hasn't protected her deposit with a declaration of trust like she probably should have, but I think it would be fairest sell the property and she receives back the money she paid towards the deposit, and then split any profit made from the sale 50/50 so you both get some extra money back. Unless you're going to come out at a loss, but hopefully prices might have gone up since you purchased as the market is a bit crazy at the moment! :)

I'm glad you feel that she hasn't been coercive or abusive in other areas of your life, OP. And glad to know that college and employer and others in your life are there to support you. Having a partner with what sounds like acute mental health issues is tough enough, without the new house, the apprenticeship and the end of the relationship to negotiate.

Just a couple of points to be aware of, you normally can’t sell a house within 6 months of buying it.

Having the mortgage with your ex created a financial link between you both, and this is now reflected in both of your credit profiles. Once you’re removed from the mortgage, that link will still continue, so you’ll need to approach the credit reference agencies and submit a financial notice of disassociation to have your credit profiles separated. This is particularly important with her credit rating being worse than yours, as it could affect your ability to rent.

This is a really good point. I think it might be easiest to get her to sign the form to separate your files. I’d look into that before the house sells so you’re prepared.

I’ve been in this exact situation. Or at least very similar. Bought house and split up six months later.

Our mortgage provider wouldn’t just “take him off”. They do have a process to remove/add parties to the mortgage. There was a £180 admin fee and the person remaining on the mortgage has to be re-assessed as a single applicant. If that gets approved, bingo. They’ll remove you from the mortgage. But if it doesn’t get approved, then selling up is your only option to come off the mortgage.

You can rent elsewhere while you’re on the mortgage - but you will still be liable. If she defaults it will affect your credit rating. Once you have either been removed from the mortgage or the house sold, the financial link will be severed automatically on your credit file (that’s what happened to me).

OP, I know you feel a bit cheeky saying you want to claim a share but your ex has stolen from you financially. In the future you won’t qualify for the cheap/discounted first time buyer offers because she used you to buy this house. If it’s easier you can view it as her compensating you for this very substantial loss.

Hope you’re doing OK. Stay strong - you deserve to come out of this with something,

Of course she doesn't want you do to that, because she'd have to take on the mortgage on her own and if she couldn't do it first time round, she won't be able to do it now. She's completely used you.

Please get yourself taken off the mortgage, because if she defaults, you'll be liable too.

I haven't read everyone's replies but please be prepared that in the time this takes to sell, there is the very real possibility that you could enter in to a negative equity scenario, depending on location etc.

Around here nowhere is now selling because of this fear and because of how much the house prices have risen, especially in the last year.

Wrong way around. First, OP needs to recover her costs and some compensation for loss of first time buyer advantage, then deduct any penalties for prepayment, legal costs etc, and only then the ex partner can recover the deposit. If there's excess cash left (however unlikely), then some split between them.

Exactly this!