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| immi |
Posted - 12 April 2012 : 13:11:39
Hi, I’m in a real dilemma and need some sound legal advice.
Basically, I live in London with my wife of 16 years. In 2006, my wife purchased a property in Scotland with a view to moving there a few days a week to work. We bought the property for just over £250k. Within a year, my wife’s job situation changed and we no longer required the property and decided to put it on to the market. At that time the country was not in recession and we got two individuals wanting to buy at our original price i.e. £250k. However, when the potential buyer’s lenders had surveys done, the value had dropped to around £160k. Since then, we have been unable to sell the property and it has remained empty all this time. We are lucky that the rates have remained low and I have a good job so have been paying the mortgage all this time. The mortgage is interest only so we have not paid off any of the capital.
We have now reached a stage that we can no longer afford to pay the mortgage and are desperate to let the property go and hand back the keys. Although, the property we currently live in is in my sole name, we feel that the lender may come back and ask us to sell our matrimonial home and pay off the debt when the property in Scotland is repossessed and sold off. We are also talking to a legal party to sue the initial surveyors that surveyed the Scottish property when we purchased it, but I don’t hold much hope for this.
Any advice anyone can provide on this matter will be much appreciated.
Many thanks
Immi
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| 10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| immi |
Posted - 12 April 2012 : 17:32:42
Many thanks again James.
Is this something you can help with? If not, could you possibly point me in the right direction? Also, can I email you directly please? |
| James Falla |
Posted - 12 April 2012 : 17:20:30
Hi Immi
Given the property in Scotland is in your wife's name, then if you allow this to be repossessed, she alone will be liable for any shortfall. Given that the property in England is in your name rather than joint names, I think it would be quite difficult for your wife's creditor to then apply for a charge against a property that she on paper has no beneficial interest in. However if they were able to achieve this then yes, they could apply statutory interest of up to 8% per year. However they may not do this.
Ultimately the best thing to do would be to make an arrangement with the mortgage company to pay of the debt on a monthly basis. This will generally prevent a charging ordre being applied for in the first place (however it is not certain). The alternative could be for your wife to declare herself bankrupt. However to ensure that your residential property is not put at risk this would require a successful claim that she has no beneficial interest in it. As such I would recommend discussing the situation with an expert before decising to go down the bankruptcy route.
Debt solutions expert and author.
If you would like further help or guidance visit www.beatmydebt.com
Alternatively I can be contacted via e-mail: james@beatmydebt.com |
| immi |
Posted - 12 April 2012 : 17:01:10
Thanks for your input James.
To answering your questions...yes our main residence is in England, but the property in Scotland is only in my wifes name which has always been the case.
My wife stopped working a few years back to look after the children and I have been paying the mortgage since then.
Assuming the property in Scotland was repossessed and the lender put a charge on our current home, I presume the charge would accumulate interest until paid off. |
| James Falla |
Posted - 12 April 2012 : 16:50:19
Hi Immi
I assume that you and your wife live in your main residence in England? If so you would potentially need to use the insolvency rules of England and Wales not Scotland.
Is the mortgage in Scotland in joint names or just in your wife's name? If you allow the property to be repossessed and there is a shortfall on the mortgage then whoever is named on the mortgage will be liable for the shortfall. If it is in joint names you will both be jointly liable for 100% of the debt.
The lender will then chase the named parties for the debt. If this is you and you cannot reach a sensible repayment plan, then they could ultimately try to get a charging order against your property in England. However even if they achieve that, it is extremely unlikely that they would be able to force a sale.
Debt solutions expert and author.
If you would like further help or guidance visit www.beatmydebt.com
Alternatively I can be contacted via e-mail: james@beatmydebt.com |
| Niobe |
Posted - 12 April 2012 : 15:19:23
Sue Clay works with the Jones/Giles practice. If you google it then it should take you to the website - don't be put off by the fact that head office is in Wales, she has offices all over the place including Scotlan.
Follow through
Make your dreams come true
Don't give up the fight
You will be alright
'Cause there's no one like you in the universe
Jan
xxx |
| Melanie.n |
Posted - 12 April 2012 : 15:17:32
Apologies, the details on the epxerts area have disappeared -
Sue can be contacted via www.melaniegiles.com or sueclay@jonesgiles.co.uk - please let her know you have been provided her detils via the forum, so that she can read your original post
Many thanks, Melanie
Melanie Nicholas CertDR
30+years insolvency experience - 23 of which in the Insolvency Service and the past 8 years with a number of IP firms.
If I can be of any help to you in any way or answer any queries, concerns or worries you may have, or with completing the forms for bankruptcy, please do not hesitate to get in touch -I can be contacted via the experts tab
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| immi |
Posted - 12 April 2012 : 14:48:51
Hi all,
Thank you very much for your very quick replies. I have tried to find Sues details on the expert tab but cannot locate them. Please can you let me know how I can make contact with her.
Thanks again, Immi. |
| Melanie.n |
Posted - 12 April 2012 : 14:18:14
Hi there
as the property is located in Scotland it may well be worth contacting Sue Clay via the experts tab - as Sue works within the Scottish Debt system, which can be different from the England/Wales system. She comes highly recommended! and will help/advise you accordingly
Hope this is of help, Melanie
Melanie Nicholas CertDR
30+years insolvency experience - 23 of which in the Insolvency Service and the past 8 years with a number of IP firms.
If I can be of any help to you in any way or answer any queries, concerns or worries you may have, or with completing the forms for bankruptcy, please do not hesitate to get in touch -I can be contacted via the experts tab
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| Viki.W |
Posted - 12 April 2012 : 14:10:27
Hi immi,
As Jan has said, it's probably best that you chat to an expert regarding your situation and have all your options explained.
Viki Warbrooke
Vincent Bond & Co
If you would like free advice on all options available and help with your bankruptcy petition please contact me at http://www.vincentbond.com/about_us_Viki_Warbrooke.asp |
| Niobe |
Posted - 12 April 2012 : 13:34:41
Hi immi and welcome.
I've no idea about this one but would suggest you give one of our experts a ring. Their details can be found on the left hand side of the page. They will be able to give some free advice.
Follow through
Make your dreams come true
Don't give up the fight
You will be alright
'Cause there's no one like you in the universe
Jan
xxx |
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