Joint Owned. Mortgage in both names.

[Dharmadad]

Hi,

I (nor anyone else for that matter) has seen of heard from my ex partner (not married) for nearly 8 years.

I have since re-married and have a child with my wife - we've been married for 6 years.

I understand from Landmark that I can do nothing without my ex partners signature regarding the mortgage. Can't sell, rent it out or even take a mortgage break.

I also understand that there is a way around this - can anyone offer some advice or experience in this type of situation?

Thanks in advance!

[Joanna Connolly Solicitors]

Re: Joint Owned. Mortgage in both names.

A few quick questions to establish things.

Landmark took over a portfolio of mortgages from NRAM so I assume this was originally a Northern Rock loan. Would it have been one of their Together Mortgages which was part mortgage and part unsecured loan?

Are you and your wife currently living in the property? If not who is?

When was the last time your former partner paid towards the mortgage?

When the property was purchased did you register yourselves as Tenants in Common (a defined %) or were/are you Joint Tenants? If neither then Joined Tenants (50/50 ownership) is normally presumed.

Does the property have equity?

Are there any mortgage arrears accruing or do you need to take a mortgage break (you mentioned that in your post)?

Di

[Dharmadad]

Re: Joint Owned. Mortgage in both names.

A few quick questions to establish things.

Landmark took over a portfolio of mortgages from NRAM so I assume this was originally a Northern Rock loan. Would it have been one of their Together Mortgages which was part mortgage and part unsecured loan? YES

Are you and your wife currently living in the property? If not who is? YES

When was the last time your former partner paid towards the mortgage? She never did pay towards the mortgage - I always paid. She earned little.

When the property was purchased did you register yourselves as Tenants in Common (a defined %) or were/are you Joint Tenants? If neither then Joined Tenants (50/50 ownership) is normally presumed. Joint Tenants

Does the property have equity? YES - currently around 30k

Are there any mortgage arrears accruing or do you need to take a mortgage break (you mentioned that in your post)? No Arrears - break was just because frankly we need a holiday!!

Di

Thanks, see answers in RED

[Dharmadad]

Re: Joint Owned. Mortgage in both names.

<bump>

I'd really appreciate any assistance re this?

BW

[nightwatch]

Re: Joint Owned. Mortgage in both names.

Di will get back to you, she is working with our in house solicitor so as you can imagine she is rather busy,
You are quite welcom to contact her by email or phone, contact details are in her signiture xxx

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Joint Owned. Mortgage in both names.

<bump>

I'd really appreciate any assistance re this?

BW

Glad to see you managed to login. Please bear with us as our solicitors are very busy, as advised above.

[Joanna Connolly Solicitors]

Re: Joint Owned. Mortgage in both names.

see answers in RED

Thanks for your answers - really helpful.

I'll post my initial thoughts to your response on your thread tomorrow when I've had time to digest what you've said.

Di

[Joanna Connolly Solicitors]

Re: Joint Owned. Mortgage in both names.

I (nor anyone else for that matter) has seen of heard from my ex partner (not married) for nearly 8 years.

I have since re-married and have a child with my wife - we've been married for 6 years.

I understand from Landmark that I can do nothing without my ex partners signature regarding the mortgage. Can't sell, rent it out or even take a mortgage break.

Landmark is correct. You can't sell the property without your ex partner's consent since she owns 50% of it and her name is (presumably) on the deeds and registered at Land Registry. You also can't change any of the terms of the mortgage without her giving Landmark her consent.

I know that's annoying but if the boot was on the other foot you'd be cross if she could sell the house which is currently home to you and your family.

There are options you could consider in order to untangle the situation.

Depending on your income status you could remortgage the property in your sole name (or jointly with your wife if she has an income to boost your eligibility) with another lender. You would not need your ex partner's permission to redeem the current mortgage which is jointly in her name.

However this wouldn't remove your ex partner's name from the Deeds so some mortgage lenders may not co-operate. If the new mortgage was low LTV that may work.

Another option (but you'll need legal advice and assistance to attempt this) is to make a court application to determine the property rights.

Applications must be served on the other party (obviously) as well as issuing them through the court. If you've not been in touch with your ex partner for years (do you know how to find her whereabouts?) then you could 'serve' her by placing a Notice in the Press.

As well as considering the Property Rights the court would consider the financial situation.

It may decide that you owe your ex partner 'rent' for the period you have lived there and she hasn't lived there (the last eight years?). The court may decide that the mortgage payments you have made (from the start) should be factored into the maths.

Did you and/or your ex partner pay a deposit or was it one of the Northern Rock 125% LTV mortgages so no deposit paid by either of you?

The unsecured loan element could become tricky. If you only redeem the core mortgage (which is secured on the property) then the interest rate of the unsecured loan will rocket once it's "de-linked". However from what you say it's only the secured element that may need remortgaging.

Is this a repayment mortgage or an interest-only loan? If it's repayment then the whole mortgage would be cleared by the end of the term (assuming repayments continue) which means the mortgage is completed and the lender will no longer have a charge on the property. However that still won't mean your ex partner's name would be removed from the Deeds.

A payment holiday is only a holiday. The repayments are not made but the amount owed is still owed. Depending on the terms of your mortgage this could mean extra interest is added in the long run increasing the amount owed. That's probably why Landmark won't agree to this without your ex partner's permission.

I hope I've said enough to help you think over some options.

Was/is there PPI on this mortgage?

Di

[Dharmadad]

Hi Di and thanks for getting back. I am sorry if the following sounds like I have a little angst....but I do

I'll answer your other questions but before I do can you clarify the following which, frankly I was horrified to read.


"It may decide that you owe your ex partner 'rent' for the period you have lived there and she hasn't lived there (the last eight years?). The court may decide that the mortgage payments you have made (from the start) should be factored into the maths"

How can I be charged for rent on my own home from a person who has never paid (or attempted to pay) anything towards the mortgage of the upkeep of the property - she moved out not me. I have remained and maintained regular payments etc....thats almost leaving me little prospect but to just put the keys back in an envelope and push them through the estate agents letter box. THEN the (completely) absent party can be pursued for the other half she has had nothing to do with.

Watch them find her quicko then

Surely by the same token and logic I should be able to charge her for 50% of the mortgage that she is responsible for....I can assure you at £750 a month over the last 9 years with no help from the other (50% owner and mortgagee) its been a struggle.

DD...

[The Tech Clerk]

blimey I know of somebodies ex wife paid 1 payment made by the O.H. due to them being broke - and 50% went to her, mind you got her out of their hair, but then it seems co-habitating at some stage clips it all as a joint home, i.e get married then live apart? not logical - ??? just my 2 penny worth, we can all have a go at one-upmanship but on these occassions it usually back fires and we have to give way to common sense.

[Dharmadad]

Alrighty then...

Well, thanks for the feedback everyone.

It seems this particular thread is done...

[Joanna Connolly Solicitors]

Alrighty then...

Well, thanks for the feedback everyone.

It seems this particular thread is done...

I'm not sure what your last post means?

We have exchanged emails and I have agreed to call you at a mutually convenient time. There are no legal proceedings in the pipeline at the moment.

Other forum members with similar experiences may be happy to post or share their thoughts on your thread.

Di

[Dharmadad]

I'm not sure what your last post means?

We have exchanged emails and I have agreed to call you at a mutually convenient time. There are no legal proceedings in the pipeline at the moment.

Other forum members with similar experiences may be happy to post or share their thoughts on your thread.

Di

Hi Di,

I meant I think I had gone as far as I could re offering info on this site.

Things are moving a little now and there have been progressions but I am not sure how to proceed. My ex has eventually been in touch (after 8 years silence!) and we're in conversation - this happened within the last 48 hours. She is pretty clear that she wants to come off both the mortgage and the deeds.

I have an appointment for an 'affordability check' with Landmark Mortgages next week to discuss this.

My only concerns are that despite paying the mortgage on the dot for 8 years, the decision to allow her to come off the mortgage will be scuppered as a result of some negativity on my credit report - all accrued as a result of being left to manage the finances on my own after the split.

That would be a really draconian way of establishing my affordability.



Thanks...

[Joanna Connolly Solicitors]

Well the good news is your ex partner wants out of the situation so that's a start. Although beware that if she takes legal advice she could be told to put a price tag on her financial exit, so keeping it amicable if possible.

What is the current LTV of the mortgage? The lower the ratio the more likely the lender will do business with you because of the (low) risk factor.

Would it make sense to include your wife in this situation if she has an income, since affordability could then be assessed on two incomes not just yours?

Or is the problem that you may have negative entries (defaults?) on your CRA files? I would expect Landmark to run a credit check even though you are an existing customer. However depending on how long ago those defaults were, it's possible that it won't necessarily have a detrimental impact on your financial assessment if you have a squeaky clean payment record with them (their predecessor) over the last eight years.

Di

[Dharmadad]

Well the good news is your ex partner wants out of the situation so that's a start. Although beware that if she takes legal advice she could be told to put a price tag on her financial exit, so keeping it amicable if possible.

What is the current LTV of the mortgage? The lower the ratio the more likely the lender will do business with you because of the (low) risk factor.

Would it make sense to include your wife in this situation if she has an income, since affordability could then be assessed on two incomes not just yours?

Or is the problem that you may have negative entries (defaults?) on your CRA files? I would expect Landmark to run a credit check even though you are an existing customer. However depending on how long ago those defaults were, it's possible that it won't necessarily have a detrimental impact on your financial assessment if you have a squeaky clean payment record with them (their predecessor) over the last eight years.

Di

Thanks Di.

Not sure what the LTV percentage is - but there is currently around 40k equity in the property if sold now.

Yes, I have a CCJ and a couple of defaults on my file - I only recently got my credit report back and didn't even know about two of them. One I have just paid off and the others I will pay off at the end of the month. Though I appreciate the 'default' will remain on my file I also understand it can only be positive for my rating to pay them in full.

In terms of the debts history, the CCJ will be 6 years old next Oct and the defaults are all over 4 years old and only for a couple of hundred pounds - these i will pay off as I said. there is a credit card that's for 2k that despite being defaulted I am paying off monthly and have been for 2 years - in fact i have been making payments to all the debts for over two or three years now.

As you pointed out, my x seems very keen to just come off everything including the deeds. I have told her that I have no immanent plan to sell/rent the property - but I suspect she is aware of being responsible for half the debt and wants out!

Thanks again,

DD