Diffiuclt senario and Iam trapped by it all

LegacyUser

Like many young people at the height of the housing boom, four years ago my self and my partner bought a house. However, a year later we broke up. He moved out and I remained in the house (due to other personal circumstances at the time. I have remained there ever since. Despite attempts from me for us try to sell the house, he was happy to keep the house and persuaded me to not to push it any further. During this time things were very good with us and we got on very well as friends. To date he pays for his share of the mortgage. We are lucky that our payments are very low.

With time passing our friendship began to fall apart, and things got very difficult between us. To this day we dont speak unless its relevant to the house. He got a chance to emigrate abroad and took up the offer. So currently he does not live in Ireland. Getting hold of him can be difficult and he often doesnt respond back to my mails for few days after I sent it.

I dont know where I stand in the house, I dont know the long term future of the house and where either one of us stand in regards to it. I have tried to speak to him about this and place forward some options (selling the house, transfer of ownership, long term letting etc) but he becomes defensive and refuses to discuss these options further. A very good mutual friend of ours has tried to mediate the situation but that did not come to a conclusion.

Futhermore, I would like to travel myself, but I feel so trapped by the situation and the lack of acknowledgement by himself. I feel the responsibility of the situation and the house has been placed upon me for so long with little help from himself. I have tried and tried in so many ways for him to come to an agreement where both of us can be happy and be clearcut on the situation. Iam really at my wits end, and I feel more and more depressed about the situation everyday.

finbarrk

You bought the house at the height of the boom but your repayments are very low?

Billy7878

finbarrk wrote: »

You bought the house at the height of the boom but your repayments are very low?

way to miss the point!

Billy7878

finbarrk wrote: »

You bought the house at the height of the boom but your repayments are very low?

missing the point?

tenchi-fan

The guy has distanced himself from the situation. He doesn't care what happens now.

You should rent out the house and split the shortfall 50-50. But if his financial situation turns bad there's a chance he will walk away from his obligations. It's not illegal for him to do so.

Interest rates, insurance costs and an impending property tax will drive the cost of owning the house up, meanwhile rental prices will likely fall.

If he walks away, think twice about paying his share of the mortgage. As the mortgage is in both your names, the outstanding balance on the loan will be split 50-50. The sales proceeds of the house would also be split 50-50.

Therefore by keeping up payments when he stops, in the event of repossession you'll have wasted thousands and still end up with the same debt as him. I'm not a solicitor so you might want to check these "facts"

One thing you could clarify though, why is he paying half the mortgage when he doesn't live in the house?
Surely his bill should be Half the mortgage LESS (rental value / 2). in other words, you should be paying him rent if you're taking the whole house.. or alternatively rent out rooms and use it to pay his share.

Firetrap

Have you looked for legal advice over this?|

tenchi-fan

Firetrap wrote: »

Have you looked for legal advice over this?|

It's a bit late for that! Legal agreements need to be drawn up before things go tits up.

Silverfish

Reminder:

Off-topic and unhelpful posting can earn you a ban from this forum. Please keep replies helpful to the OP.


Thanks.

irishdude11

tenchi-fan wrote: »

One thing you could clarify though, why is he paying half the mortgage when he doesn't live in the house?
Surely his bill should be Half the mortgage LESS (rental value / 2). in other words, you should be paying him rent if you're taking the whole house.. or alternatively rent out rooms and use it to pay his share.

He is paying half the mortgage because they are both liable for it. What has him not living there got to do with that?

Why should OP be paying him rent? He is hanging her out to dry and has burdened her with god knows how much negative equity because he wouldnt face up to his obligations and still wont..

If he wants to rent out his share of the house let him come back and sort it himself, why should OP have to do his donkey work for him, she pays her 1/2 of the mortgage, its up to him to come up with the other half.

ash23

Having sought legal advice on similar, I was told that as myself and ex were not married, the house was like a business agreement.

Regards the mortgage, we are both responsible for the mortgage repayments, equally.
With regards to the house, we both own it 50/50.

He is paying his half of the mortgage and not charging you rent or looking to sublet his half of the house so you are actually getting a pretty good deal.

You can let out the house and whatever the rent doesn't cover, you can split the costs 50/50.
his legal obligations are met, as he is paying his half of the mortgage. So long as he is doing that, he has no other obligations.

You can take it to court and force a sale also. My solicitor advised that this is very possible. But if you sell at negative equity, you will both be equally responsible for the shortfall.
You can buy him out, or if the house is in negative equity, he can buy himself out.

You have a variety of options open to you. I'd advise you decide what you actually want to do (sell, keep, rent etc) and then seek legal advice as to the best way to proceed.

tenchi-fan

He is paying his half of the mortgage and not charging you rent so you are actually getting a pretty good deal.

Yes, it's a good deal.. but in my view is if this guy's financial situation is not good he could very easily walk away. He moved country, the mortgage may be being fed by a bank account that's ready to empty... I don't know the situation.

If it is good, he might not be too concerned about the mortgage payments as he knows he still owns half of the house.

The worrying thing is he just doesn't want to draw a line under it... Op, are you making a fair offer given the market value of the house?

I know a guy who wanted to buy his ex out of a negative equity property. He told her he would take over the mortgage and €30-40k negative equity.
She asked him for €10,000!! Because her logic was that she'd now have to rent and she no longer had her deposit to buy a new house. He would have paid her too only for he didn't have the money and didn't want more debt.
Their house is now over €100k in negative equity and I'm sure she is kicking herself for her stubbornness. They're going to rent it out and split the shortfall.

Miss Fluff

While I appreciate this is a cause of upset for you, if you want to get this sorted properly then you need to fork out for legal advice.

ash23

tenchi-fan wrote: »

Yes, it's a good deal.. but in my view is if this guy's financial situation is not good he could very easily walk away. He moved country, the mortgage may be being fed by a bank account that's ready to empty... I don't know the situation.

He can't just walk away. Not legally. He is obliged to maintain his half the mortgage. How he chooses to do that (by letting a room, by moving back in etc, is his choice. The OP would be wise to let the mortgage co know that they are separated and that she is paying her half and him paying his. That way if he defaults it may not have as much effect on the OP.

The worrying thing is he just doesn't want to draw a line under it... Op, are you making a fair offer given the market value of the house?

If it's in negative equity I don't blame him for not wanting to sell and be left with a load of debt. If they can hold out in the hopes that things improve, then I don't blame him for wanting to. This is what myself and my ex are doing as neither of us can afford to sell at the current market value and take the hit.

LegacyUser

Usually mortgages are joint and severally liable. That means there is no half for him to pay....how you organise to pay it is up to you both. If he doesn't pay anything, you have to pay it all and vice versa.

You are both liable for the full amount of the mortgage. It's in both your interests to get an agreed position to move forward with. If you only pay 50% of the mortgage, the bank can still come looking for the other 50% from you(they'll also go after him).

Get legal advice and try to get agreement from your ex...it's in his best interests. You mention the repayments are low...does that mean there is still equity in the house. If so, this will make it easier to sell...and convince your ex that he can get out with something to start afresh.

mvt

If your repayments are very low then maybe the rental income will cover the mortgage repayments and the cost of hiring a management agency to look after the place while you go and get on with your life.
You are in a much better position than you might think atm and sometimes you can overthink these situations and end up paralysed by indecision.
Thats what usually happens to me .