# Sister has Joint Mortgage problem



## HJT (22 Aug 2010)

My sister bought a house in 2008 with her partner of 10 years. Unfortunately they have split up almost a year now and he has refused to pay his portion of the mortgage leaving her to pay it all.

She approached her mortgage lender to remortgage in her sole name but they turned her down based on her earnings. The negative equity is about 80K.

She has also tried to have the mortgage transferred into her sole name however her ex has refused to acknowledge all letters from her solicitor.

She wants to hand the keys back and walk away or to stop paying his portion of the mortgage, 

I however am more concerned about her credit rating if she were to carry out these options.

Is there any other options available to her ? 

If she were to sell up would she be liable to the 80K negative equity or is she liable for 40K ? 

If he refuses to pay the 40K will the banks chase her for that portion also ? 

how would this affect her credit rating ?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated 
Thanks
H


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## fizzelina (23 Aug 2010)

Hi HJT, there are other posters on AAM with proper legal advice however since noone has responded I will, as far as I know your sister is liable for all the 80k, the reason being mortgages are jointly liable. She is liable for the full debt. She needs to get legal advice in relation to the ex not paying etc.


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## selenak (23 Aug 2010)

Hi HJT,

In a similar situation myself , I got loads of good advice from other AAMers.

Heres the thread http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=142454


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## HJT (24 Aug 2010)

fizzelina said:


> Hi HJT, there are other posters on AAM with proper legal advice however since noone has responded I will, as far as I know your sister is liable for all the 80k, the reason being mortgages are jointly liable. She is liable for the full debt. She needs to get legal advice in relation to the ex not paying etc.




Thanks for the information Fizzelina, unfortunately all legal correspondence have been ignored  over the past 2 months


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## HJT (24 Aug 2010)

selenak said:


> Hi HJT,
> 
> In a similar situation myself , I got loads of good advice from other AAMers.
> 
> Heres the thread http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=142454



Thanks for the link Selenak - quiet a similar situation, I will show it to my sister tomorrow, best of luck with your situation too


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## so-crates (27 Aug 2010)

Just to note, your sister's partner would also be fully liable (hence jointly and severally liable), not that that seems to have motivated him in any way. Stopping paying or reducing payment hurts her as much as him so it would not be a productive step and it would not force the issue for her partner though at the moment he would seem to be getting something of a free ride.


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## HJT (28 Aug 2010)

Thanks to everyone for your comments. I was talking to my sister earlier, she would sell the house if she was only liable for half the negative equity but the ex will not cough up his share so she may have to struggle on, I've also just found out she is paying his life insurance because his name is on the mortgage. I find the whole situation unbelievable especially when I will see him tonight in the local with not a care in the world and she is at home trying to heat the house with a lightbulb !


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