Saddled with Joint Mortgage in Negative Equit

selenak - I truly sympathise with your position, I know people in a similar situation - I really do not have any magic solution for you.

In your position I would use a solicitor to chase down your ex and try to force her to take some responsibility. I realise that you cannot get blood from a stone and if she is unemployed there is little chance of getting much out of her financially, but you may be able to at least force her to make SOME kind of move on the situation.

The way things stand right now you are taking on all the financial responsibility AND all the stress and worry.

I also think you should talk to your family about this, bottling it up isnt good for you and lets face it - youre not telling them you have a terrible disease, youre just telling them you are in a nasty financial situation due to someone elses irresponsibility. You will feel better emotionally and they may have some ideas for you?

What about renting out the property so that you are not paying anything out on it monthly?

I wish you all the best with it.

Oh - and I wouldnt use the savings to pay off any of it just yet, because thats just bailing your ex out.
 
I would advise you to be meticulous in keeping (scan or file) ALL your correspondence, receipts, bank statements and other financial records until this is finalised - even if it takes 20 years. If it came to it that your ex tried to make a case for a share of equity after you have paid the mortgage on your own for years, you will be in a much stronger position if you can show that every cent of the mortgage, bills, home improvements etc came from you.
 
Good thinking orka. Ive just started up a file & I'll keep everything in there. I think it could come in very handy one day.

Truthseeker - never a truer word spoken! I don't have a disease, I have my health, family & friends ( wealth is questionable : ) ).

At the end of the day its only money. I'll sort it out. I just need to be pro-active & stay positive.

Truthseeker - out of interest what are the people you know in this situation doing about it?

As for paying the lump sum off - I may hold off on this & see how things pan out. If interest rates shoot up I may need to go down this route, but i can manage repayments for the moment.
 
selenak said:
Truthseeker - out of interest what are the people you know in this situation doing about it?
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In one situation the guy (who stayed in the house) got a new girlfriend and she moved in and actually took over the ex's part of the mortgage with the bank (one name off the mortgage, another name on). So the property is still in NE but the guy is in a new relationship in it, and the ex has no more financial responsibility. The ex got away lightly financially, but all preferred to move on in life emotionally.

In another one, both people are ignoring it - it is rented out, but the rent isnt covering the mortgage, no one is making up the shortfall - so both peoples credit is going to be destroyed, both have their heads in the sand.
 
First situation sounds like it worked out quite well then.
Anyone know any girls who fancy taking on 60K negative equity? They'd get to go out with me. ;)
My God the second situation sounds awful though. Absolutely terrible. And the longer that goes on the worse it will get.
A lot of people think I'm being a soft touch by making up my exes half of the mortgage. In reality I'm not. I just dont want to end up in THAT situation.
I hope for their sake they come to some resolution.
 
selenak - in the first situation, the resolution was best for all but there is still a fair amount of bitterness about it all. Mind you, the house was not as badly in NE at the time that the new girl took on the mortgage - it has become much worse since then.

Yes - the second situation is a nightmare. Thats where you dont want to be.

Its in YOUR best interests to continue to make the repayments, you save your ex's credit rating while saving your own, but thats life.

Document every cent, EVERY cent.
 
Hi Selenak,

It sounds to me like you are taking responsible action and working towards a solution. Like truthseeker, I have numerous friends and colleagues in the same situation and the majority have contacted their bank looking for a moratorium on the mortgage and changing from capital and interest repay to interest only which is sometimes a short term solution but certainly only that.
I know you say you don't want to worry your family, but it can help to chat to them if only to stop you stressing so much. A problem shared etc...
Maynooth, I have to say you are not exactly helping towards a solution.
 
Meeting a solicitor on Tuesday so I'll come back with an update then.

Maynooth - I was going to sell the cat and use the proceeds to pay the mortgage so she took it.
 
selenak said:
Meeting a solicitor on Tuesday so I'll come back with an update then.
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Ill be very interested to hear what the solicitor has to say on this. Fundamentally you cant MAKE someone care about their financial responsibilities and as long as the mortgage is in both names it means your actions will protect her. There must be a legal way to force her to help out here.
 
Hi Upstihaggity,

Another good suggestion. I might put that in the "things to do when the rates go up" pile. I think I'll struggle then.
I feel a lot less stressed now. Just hearing that I'm not the only eejit in this situation makes me feel better.
 
she's probably got the cat mortgaged against a "lifestyle" debt by now - fiscally irresponsible people tend to get theirs in the end.
Sybil
 
I hear the banks are using PIs now to track down mortgage defaulters - at home or abroad.
I wonder would the solicitor consider the possibility of a lien on ex's future earnings to be a runner?
 
Selenek, if you didn't still have feelings for your ex you would know exactly what to do. What she is doing (or not doing) is demonstrating how she feels for you. Until you grasp that nettle, you won't be able to cross any bridges.
 
I would sit tight for a couple of years and not invest your savings in the existing house.

I am in neg equity myself at the moment and was considering making additional payments (lump sums and regular) in the hopes that reducing the NE would mean banks would look more favourably on a borrower with no negative equity when the time comes to look for another property in a few years. However, I understand that the new negative equity mortgages proposed by some banks would be granted on the basis of adding existing neg eq to new mortgage on the condition that the new mortgage on a standalone basis meets existing criteria eg 90% LTV and borrower meets legal costs etc.

So, from my point of view, to have the best chance of getting another mortgage in the next couple of years, I shouldn't overpay on the existing mortgage but build up savings instead.

Hope that makes sense and good luck
 
Personally I'd keep the fact that you've €60,000 in savings under wraps - i.e. if possible, don't tell your bank.

You want to try and engineer a situation where the bank, your ex and you share the hit.

As things stand, you could easily end up carrying the can. Try and avoid this. Best of luck.
 
Update time.

So met with a solicitor.
I don't have too many options, but the solicitor seems to think that a court order is the way to go to force ex -OH to pay.
He advised renting the apartment for the short-term, raher than one or other of us living in it. There would be a shortfall looking at market rates in the area, but this difference should be split equally between us.
Long-term he advised trying to sell it & pay the difference off. Im not happy to do this as it looks like we would still be bound into a joint loan - but with no asset to show for it.
Ive decided to keep my savings uder wraps for the moment.
 
selenak said:
I don't have too many options, but the solicitor seems to think that a court order is the way to go to force ex -OH to pay.
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Thanks for the update selenak. Im glad you have a way forward. I quoted the above just to ask - while a court order seems the sensible solution, how practical is it, you said your ex was unemployed? If she has no money then how will a court order make her pay up?
 
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