issue with Bank when one of two debtors ups and leaves the country

M

mybestwho

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1
i was advised this might be the place to query an issue im having with my bank re my mortgage as out below:

me and my X bought in 2007, prices were coming down but were yet to plummet. house is now in massive negative equity. she was the main earner and mortgage given on strength of her earning. couple of years later relationship dissolves, i move out, she pays mortgage on her own with a view to taking over mortgage (on advice of bank).

after one year she applies to take over mortgage in full, and get me off it, bank refuse, demand all negative equity gets paid first, this is not feasible, bank figure its better to have 2 people to chase so dont let me off.

X decides she doesnt want to be tied to me forever so moves abroad, i move back into the house, for a few months she contributes a portion of mortgage, this ends, i cant afford full mortgage myself so pay 75% each month (this covers all insurances, interest and a portion of the capital).

solicitors letters go back and forth between X and i basically she says "**** you" and drops contact. in the mean time i am in monthly contact with bank explaining the situation, either i call them or they call me, to the best of my knowledge they have never attempted to call her.

i do up a standard financial statement, go into branch to see about coming to an affordable monthly arrangement, am told its a pointless exercise without a SFS from her too. she is refusing to do one. back and forth between bank and i for another 2 years, forward to recently, get called in again, this time i bring in the SFS, it gets submitted.

a week later i get a call, the bank refure my application, reckon i can afford to pay the lot. i ask about my X and what they are doing to bring her into the
equation

me: "what about my X?"

bank: "what about her?"

m: "well, is she not liable too?"

b: "yes she is but i only have a form from you, she didnt submitted anythign so i cant speak about her"

m: "so she's no longer liable?"

b: "she is of course liable"

m: "ok so what are you going to do about her?"

b: "she didnt send in a statement so there's nothing i can do about her"

m: "are you trying to contact her like you have been me?"

b: "i dont know, probably not, she's abroad"

m: "so my mistake was to engage with you? it seems like she is not being
pursued, it seems like i am the soul debtor now, are you saying i should have skipped the country?"

b: "i dont know, you're the only one who filled out the form so..."

it's nuts. so i get a letter from them to clarify all this:
Dear Miss X and Mr Mybestwho, (we've been split since 2009)
we are pleased (pleased?)to inform you of the moratorium that has been reached blah blah you will pay your full mortgage plus €150 to start making up the arrears..." (is that what a moratorium is?)

pleased to inform you we're looking for 120% of your monthly mortgage payments when one of you has ****ed off, the other cant afford it and we're going to make no effort to even contact the other person.

the situation is an absolute joke, for all the many people i have spoken to not one has even been in any sort of position to make a decision and they rarely agree on what my options are.

since they addressed it to us both im going to assume 50% of what they look for (as oppose to the 75% i had been paying) and if they want the rest they can get their finger out and go get it.

anyone else in a similar siutation?

the frustrating things is they had an oppurtunity to let my X, who makes multiples of my salary, take it over but they did want to let me off, two birds in the bush being better than one in the hand seemingly
 
Now that you've got your rant out of the way could you give us some actual details.

So lets start with can you afford the mortgage? Do you want to keep the house? Which bank ? What are you paying now etc

(We and the bank don't need to know anything about X, she is out of the picture albeit on the deeds and mortgage)
 
As you co-signed on Mortgage you are 100% liable for the full debt.
As your X co-signed she too is 100% liable for the full debt.
........................
The Reality is that YOU are the only one around so you will be 100% liable.
On a joint mortgage EITHER party is 100% liable .There is NO onus on Bank to chase the world after your X.
May be unfair but that IS the way it is.
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On other threads there are comments from Governor of Central Bank that customers paying interest only would be considered viable mortgages etc.
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Since you sent in the SFS and Banks review says you can repay full mortgage +150, that tells me your SFS seemed to show capacity to repay that.
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Since the house is in massive negative equity , you still have a negotiating weapon.
From the info you have sent, re-engage in writing or in person (NO PHONE CALLS) with the Bank.
Explain you cannot see how you can pay this , ask them to explain.
If unsatisfactory, get a 2nd opinion from someone used to mortgages.
If this opinion says you can only genuinely afford say 50% per month and that covers interest + some principal , and leaves you able to live , offer that .

Take it from there then.
Always keep notes/copies. Try not to get into phone calls.

....................................................................................................................................
 
Where has the ex moved to? If enforcement proceedings start, it is difficult to hide in any civilised country.
 
mybestwho said:
anyone else in a similar siutation?
Click to expand...

I was in exactly the same situation mybestwho - the bank told me that it was "not their problem" and they weren't trying to contact my ex either. He changed his number and they were writing out to him at my address which I informed the bank a thousand times he wasn't living at.

I tried to engage with them for over 3 years before finally giving up, going to the uk and declaring myself bankrupt.
 
RainyDay said:
Where has the ex moved to? If enforcement proceedings start, it is difficult to hide in any civilised country.
Click to expand...
.........................................................................

Enforcement proceedings and the costs will only be taken in another jurisdiction if there is a good chance of getting money.
It is unlikely Bank will see it as a viable/profitable option.
 
OP you need to do a search on this forum re the problems that arise in taking over payments on a joint mortgage where one of the parties is not contributing. Any capital reductions are only reducing the level of negative equity and even if you do get to a position where a return to positive equity occurs, the house will remain in the joint names of both parties. There is no simple solution here without the co-operation of both owner/borrowers. You need to obtain professional advice before making any further element of capital reductions to the loan. Repayments only make sense if they are at or below an equivalent rental level.
 
Gerry Canning said:
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Enforcement proceedings and the costs will only be taken in another jurisdiction if there is a good chance of getting money.
It is unlikely Bank will see it as a viable/profitable option.
Click to expand...

The bank is not going to throw good money after bad on some joker that has upped sticks to sunnier climbs. Now if they knew he had a mansion and/or a yacht it would be a different story.
 
Time said:
The bank is not going to throw good money after bad on some joker that has upped sticks to sunnier climbs. Now if they knew he had a mansion and/or a yacht it would be a different story.
Click to expand...

In all the years on here with debtors gone off into the sunset so far not one Irish person has claimed that a bank is pursuing them abroad. They so far haven't managed to get a penny out of millionaires like Drumm and Dunne so what chance them catching Siobhan for 200K in Wazaktoo, Australia on a salary of 60K who will jack in the job the minute they contact her and go to Bazaktoo, New Zealand with the Irish version of her name.
 
Bronte said:
In all the years on here with debtors gone off into the sunset so far not one Irish person has claimed that a bank is pursuing them abroad.
Click to expand...

Except for this couple:
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=186960

The difference with OP being that he stayed around to face up to the debts. OP, I agree it's ridiculous that the bank wouldn't transfer the whole thing to your ex while they had the chance and she was willing to take it, and now they are chasing you who earns a lot less than her for it.

If you go to the section here called Issues relating to Joint mortgages and read Brendan's case studies/stickies it sums up your options nicely.

Basically the only way you can get them to chase her is if you don't co-operate with them. I got the bank to start calling my ex, when i cancelled the direct debit and started only paying the rent I was getting off the mortgage and the bank started ringing me, I gave them her number and said 'I suggest you call her if you are looking for the rest of your money' and they did, they called her a few times.

As long as you co-operate, they will never contact her.

Don't pay off her half of the house
 
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