# Issue with property left to myself and sibling



## McD1978 (3 May 2012)

Hi All,

Firstly want to say what a great site this is.  I’ve had some great advice from people here both recently and in the past.  I’m hoping someone may be able to offer some advice on something that’s become a real worry lately – I’ll try to keep the story short.
A house was willed to me and my only sibling a little over a year ago.  All paperwork to do with the will is done and dusted, no issues there.  My brother didn’t own any property so I offered to sell him my half of the property but he wasn’t interested.  So I placed the property on the market and myself and my wife looked after the maintenance of the house at our own cost (My brother never got involved or offered anything towards the cost of maintenance).  At the turn of this year, my brother approached me saying he was reconsidering purchasing the house outright and asked if he could move in straight away.  I had no issue with this and took the house off the market.  He moved in early this year and we came to a “gentleman’s” agreement that he’d sort out buying me out within 12 months otherwise the house would go back on the market.  My problem now is that since he has moved into the house, he is not maintaining the property to a decent standard.  He’s letting grass grow wild, hedges and weeds overgrow and even basic cleaning inside the house is being neglected. (I’m not a clean freak or anything but letting cobwebs hang from every room in the house is a bit much.)   I called down last weekend to do the gardening and he just sat indoors playing video games while I did the work.  My worry now is that he’s just living in the house to escape paying rent/mortgage anywhere else and has no intention of buying out my half of the property – I’m afraid if I leave the situation as is, and if the house is ever placed on the market again it will have deteriorated so much that it’ll never sell.  I tried to ask my brother to perhaps look after the place a little better as it’s still part of my inheritance until he buys me out but was told where to go in no uncertain terms.  Any advice on the situation would be greatly welcomed.


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## Bronte (3 May 2012)

Based on your post, your brother is lazy, has no intention of maintening the house and sees it as a cheap place to live while you do all the running around and worry. His response to you, after you allowed him stay there rent free says it all. But you are enabling him. 

This you have to stop. 

Re being a clean freak, cobwebs are nothing nor is grass and weeds, you can let this slide for a year and then do a big clean. That's not a problem, problem is to evict your brother. 

As he hasn't agreed to the 'gentleman's agreement' to maintain the property then agreement is at an end. 

What do you want to do? This is not going to end nicely.

As you know your brother better than anybody why did you not sell the property and have it done and dusted?


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## Vanilla (3 May 2012)

You're going to have to put your foot down.

Either he maintains the house or he's out.

Until he buys the house, he is liable for half the rent to you.

Once the 12 months are up, he's out, house back on the market or rented.


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## truthseeker (3 May 2012)

Tell him to shape up or ship out. He is totally taking you for a ride. Tell him you want him to buy you out and start proceedings immediately or else he can pay you rent til its sold.


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## mathepac (3 May 2012)

Vanilla said:


> ...
> Either he maintains the house or he's out.
> 
> Until he buys the house, he is liable for half the rent to you.
> ...





Bronte said:


> ... That's not a problem, problem is to evict your brother. ...


But how do you evict the guy from a property where he is a 50% owner or even charge him rent with a retrospective 'agreement'? Arguably, it is now his 'home'.

Unfortunately I can see the four gold-mines looming on the horizon.


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## McD1978 (3 May 2012)

Thanks all for the replies.  Bronte - Thanks for the reply.  The property was the family home, felt obliged to give my brother first preferance to buying me out when he expressed an interest.  I also realise this won't end nicely but I'm not going to be a footpath for him to walk all over.
Vanilla - Thanks for the reply.  I'd love if I could get rent off him until he buys the house but I don't know if this could be done, the house is 50% his after all.
One other concern is that he's moved his new girlfriend in along with him too.  She's staying there approx half the week and spends the other half in her rented accomodation in the city.  Am I in any way leaving myself open that they could claim squatting rights or anything like that?  Maybe thats a daft question but just want to be sure.


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## Bronte (3 May 2012)

McD1978 said:


> , felt obliged to give my brother first preferance to buying me out
> 
> .


 
This is how you are not thinking correctly and are enabling him.  He is a grown adult and he certainly knows how to get around you.  Naturally we all do such things for family but now you realise that you, not he needs to do something about it.  He's never going to do anything until you are forceful.  You may have been giving him the wrong messages by trying to be kind.  

As for the girlfriend.  Yikes.    

A strong meeting with your brother is what's required to tell him in no uncertain terms what is going to happen.  Decide what you want and hopefull this will put the skids under him. Bring your husband for support and to give you confidence.  

Personally I'd have the estate agent hired today.  You absolutely need to start moving on getting this sorted.


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## McD1978 (3 May 2012)

Confidence not an issue Bronte, won't need my wife with me for that!  And to clarify, I'm the older brother in this situation.
Having agreed with him to give him 12 months before he buys me out, can a solicitor force him to either buy me out or sell the property after 12 months?
(I did advise my solicitor when my brother moved in that the property was being taken off the market as my brother was moving in with a view to buying the house outright in 12 months time)


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## beffers (3 May 2012)

OP, who was the executor of the estate? Has the ownership of the house been officially changed over to you and your brother? Do the deeds to the house have both your names on it? Does your brother have a decent income whereby he would have the ability to buy out your share within 12 months, or qualify for a mortgage to do so? If he does not, then he is just taking the pistachio.

When you said that "you" placed the house on the market, does that mean that you were the executor of the estate? If you are, that means you can still put it up for sale. Give your brother an adequate notice period to find alternative accommodation & remove his stuff. Then go in and change the locks, contact an estate agent and put it up for sale. 

He has not signed a lease. He has no rights of residence. Squatters rights do not apply unless he has been there for 12 years. Your solicitor can not force him to buy you out, but he can force the sale of the property to get you your share of your inheiritance. 

If you do so, you can probably kiss any relationship that you have with him goodbye. But if he is the sponging wastrel with no respect for your opinions that you seem to imply that he is, how good was it to begin with?


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## McD1978 (3 May 2012)

Beffers - We were both executors of the will however I carried out all work involved.  Yes, he has adequate salary and is saving €600 pm now that he's no longer paying renting.


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## elcato (3 May 2012)

As a slight aside, surely his girlfriend insists he cleans the place now and again.


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## Vanilla (3 May 2012)

Lads, seriously, there's a time and a place for solicitors and this isn't it. It's FAMILY! Sort it out for goodness sake and don't involve solicitors or you are just running up bills. 

I know what I'd be doing if it were my brother. Going around with an estate agent and a heavy heart on a Saturday morning having told my waster brother where to go.


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## Vanilla (3 May 2012)

The 600 per month is the answer.

Put him on a rent to buy agreement. The six hundred goes to you every month for the 12 months. If at the end of the year, he buys, then he gets this taken off the purchase price. If not, he loses that money completely.

That should give a bit of an incentive depending on market rents where the house is.


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## Eithneangela (3 May 2012)

I recently sold the family home, where one of my brothers had ensconsed himself for over 4 years, rentfree. I was my mother's executor, so responsible for the discharge of her will which stated all assets to be shared equally among children. My brother didn't want to move out, wouldn't pay rent, didn't maintain the place, so in the end, I paid for a total cleanout including most of the furniture (I left 1 bed and some stuff in the kitchen) and sold the house. My brother has not spoken to me since, was quite nasty during the whole process. So, I think you need a strong foot to put down, carry out the normal cleanup and sale process, all the time communicating with your brother that this is what is happening. Ignore the bad feeling which will ensue, its there anyway, if he is treating you like this. Just put down your marker re the sale and go for it. And, by the way, any costs in preparing the house for sale by way of cleanup and maintenance, should be deducted from your brother's share. You don't need to get solicitor's involved in this, just in the conveyencing part of the process. Our family let our brother walk over us for a long time - just took nerve to see it through and override sentimental family feelings. I wish you the best in this and hope you succeed in selling the house, which is the only logical outcome.


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## truthseeker (3 May 2012)

Eithneangela said:


> Ignore the bad feeling which will ensue, its there anyway, if he is treating you like this.



Never a truer word spoken.


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## Bronte (4 May 2012)

I've gone back on all the posts on this topic. Reasons for confusion re brother/sister was that op at one stage mentioned it was his sister. I understand people mix up things on here so we cannot identify them.

__________________________

As usual everything is not black and white. OP it was you that decided to keep the house, you have mentioned that you, not he, wanted him to buy the house, it was you, not he, that wanted to keep it in the family, it was you that complained about maintaining the house as he would not do anything and you allowed him into the house knowing this. For goodness sake you walked into this situation yourself. 

You were also given the option of deciding to be a landlord, you didn't want to, presumably you decided against this as it was too much hassle and then you let your brother 'caretake' the property. End of problem.  

Have you, in the back of your mind, a reason to hold onto this house, a forlorn hope of property values rising perhaps or a fear of losing the 'family' home and letting your past go? 

You are not your brother's keeper. You are not reasonsible for him and the sooner you let this house go the better. Let him grow up and buy his own house.


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## McD1978 (4 May 2012)

Bronte - While I thank you for your contribuation to all this, I'm well aware of my own contribuation to this situation and don't need it pointed out to me.  I have no reason to hold onto the house and have no forlorn hopes about property prices.  I also have my own "family" home with my wife and letting go of the past isn't an issue as you've questioned above.


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