Dear all,



I could really do with sensible advice please!! It is worrying me to death at the moment….



I bought a house with a mate a year ago and as it seemed like a good idea at the time. I was the main applicant, as I was earning enough money on my own to buy the place. Within a few weeks of moving in, he was spending all his time staying at his girlfriend’s house.



Anyway, we decided it was silly to carrying on this arrangement, so I looked into selling the house, but it wasn’t feasible as there was a penalty for early settlement. So we agreed that I’d keep the house, and change the mortgage / land registry to myself only. I agreed to (even though I didn’t need too) pay him a small token gesture payment, to assist in him setting up his new home, which I haven’t paid yet!



We’ve paid £200k for the house, which is now valued at £190k.



He moved out, and is now living with his girlfriend. My girlfriend has moved in along with her kids, to make it easier with the bills.



The other day I got letter from a company called “Eversheds” stating that last month there was a court hearing to order an interim charging order, for a debt that he hasn’t paid. There is another hearing on the 16th December 2005 to decide if the charge should go ahead!!!



This morning I got a notice from the land registry to register a restriction against the land.



I’ve been to citizen advice, and they were useless. Can someone please advise the best thing to do, as I can’t sleep at night L



What should I do?



Thanks B

 

See a solicitor NOW.

 

Who is the charging order in the name of, and what's it for? If it's in his name, then he pays it, just contact them and advise them that he is no longer a partner in the house etc.

How do you mean "a restriction against the land" ? to restrict what?

Alcazar

 

yeah, sounds like just notifying there of where he lives is going to be enough

 

whoops double post

 

The charging order is in his name!! And from what I can gather restricts me from selling the property before the sum has been paid.

I'm unsure where he lives to be really honest. Looks like he has changed his number as well.....I bought the house with him, and I'd divorced and didn't want to be screwed over again Looks like it has happened or has it?

Thanks for all your help guys and girls, B

 

But he's still on the land registry at the moment.....

Should I contact Abbey to explain and see what they think?

Blah.....

 

We’ve paid £200k for the house, which is now valued at £190k.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


YOU MUST BE THE ONLY DOSEY GETS TO LOSE MONEY ON A HOUSE

 

Definitely see a solicitor now. Most will give free advise the first time that you see them, so take any correspondence that you have with you from the moment that you bought the house between yourselves.

 

See a solicitor immediately. If you got good service from the one who you bought the house through, probably use them again as they'll be familiar with your setup.
The charge will allow the creditor to take funds from the proceeds of a sale of the house. Depending on what your solicitor advises, you or your mortgage company may well be able to stop the charge being issued in the first place.

Edited to say - check your household insurance for legal expenses cover as you probably will have this. Could save you hundreds on legal fees.

 

Oh look idiots about,

if you have no usefull information, dont post!

 

Nah... There's Neg Equity everywhere now. Just it hasn't reached the mainstream media yet. The house price crash has already started.

There's a website called ourproperty.co.uk that shows houses on the market plus the price that was paid for them when the current owner bought. Loads are going for less than the original purchase price.

The unfortunate moral of this story is - never enter into a finacial arrangement with someone you consider a friend. It always ends up like this.

Keep social and business relationships separate always.

 

The charging order restricts your ability to sell your house.

Eversheds usually act on behalf of Abbey National, your mate could not afford their rates trust me.

It's not your fault but the facts don't make a lot of sense to me without the papers. It sounds like your mate is pursuing you for a debt of some kind, he COULD have got a charging order but only after a judgement had been obtained, it would be one way of obtaining the judgement debt.

But as I say it sounds like it is a move made by the building society, particularly as Eversheds are involved.......

As you say you are worried sick about this you really must see a solicitor in your area. Go prepared. Write downa chronology of everything that has happened. Do you have a copy of the title deeds at all? if so take them with you. Take all the letters from Eversheds etc.

You will get to the bottom of this and the worry WILL come to an end but it's no good asking for help on here I'm afraid.

 

Sounds like you've got into a sticky situation. Did you agree the arrangements for transfer of house/mortgage with him in writing? If not then that was a mistake.

On the face of it you want to transfer the ownership of the whole property to your name but have not honoured the contract (which need only be verbal) to give him some "token payment".

In his position I would have done the same, stop the re-registering until you have coughed up what you said you would pay him.

Go see a solicitor without delay.

 

Wrong I'm afraid. Any property transactions MUST be in writing. Law of property (Misc Provisions) Act.....

 

I think less time on here and more time with a solicitor is a very good idea.
Good luck.

 

You need to get a copy of the Register from the Land Registry. I work in this line of business and can see who has registered charges on what properties.

You will have an Abbey charge over your property, so that you cant sell the house until the mortgage is repaid. This sounds like he has gone and got another secured loan, something secured against this property. Think of it like HPI'ing a car. If this is a 2nd charge over the property it cant be sold until the debt is repaid. Equally the company it is with have the ability to make proceedings to recapture their funds. The first charge will be with abbey though as theyre the mortgagor's.

 

Eversheds are solicitors by the way.

Also if it was a personal charge, ie against you and in the name of someone else, then it would be for money you owe them. But it doesn't sound like that on this occasion.

 

I have the land registry document here!!

I think this was a debt prior to him moving in here!! The mortgage is with Abbey and the debt is with Northern rock....

Oh great Eversheds being a solicitor, just what I need...

I know the land is registered in joint names, but I can prove he never paid any of the bills, or mortgage since we bought the place. It was like he wasn't ever living here.

Can a solicitor get me off of paying a bill that he owes on?

Thanks Phill

 

You'd need to go and ask one.......

 

whats the charge date of the Northern Rock charge ? Is it dated before you moved in ?? If so then its not your fault, if its after you moved in then it may be a big loan this other guys gone and got secured on your property then done the off's.

You would need to speak to northern rock to find out the value of it, etc.

 

I can't see a date on the letters I have, do you mean when it was heard in court? Another thing I thought, was I wasn't advised of the first hearing....Sure I should have been?

We're talking £10k BTW.

B

PS I was hoping someone on here could act for me, as it might be cheaper

 

Wouldn't have thought they'd talk to me, as I'm not there client???

B

 

Might be of interest.....http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4407608.stm

D

 

Does sound to me like your mate has taken out a loan or HP and its been secured on the house, when he defaults and doesnt pay it back, the company he has the loan with will come after the house as this is the only security they have to get their money back.

GO AND SEE A SOLICITOR NOW !!! they shouldnt charge you for a first meeting where you can explain the situation and they can tell you what can be done.

TBH with large legal companies like Eversheds, you'll be better off getting your solicitor talking to them than trying to do it yourself.

BUT FFS GET IT SORTED - its not going to cost that much compared to what you'll lose if the house gets repossessed.

 

Im not talking about the letters, you said you had a copy of the land registry title register. This will state what companies have a charge over your property. In this case it is Abbey for the mortgage and Northern Rock for whatever else this is. There will be a date next to each which is the date that the charge was put on the property. That will tell you how long this loan has been running.

If there are 2 names on the deeds, and they have a secured charge, they are entitled to do as they need to get their funds back. Abbey will have the first charge tho so i think they would need to go thru them first to start things, but im not sure.

You must attempt to speak to northern rock at least to explain the situ. and also call Eversheds because they will tell you the latest. They have a call centre.

 

He shouldn't be able to get a secured loan on the house without your permission. Any secured loan on a property owned by more than one person would have joint and several liability, so every owner would have to sign and meet the normal money laundering criteria etc.

If he has got one, someone has fecked up at Northern Rock. If it isn't a secured loan then it should be easily sorted. Go see a solicitor