Charge on house

[ummmm]

I've put my house on the market. I spoke to the bank who informed me there's a charge on the house. They wouldn't give me details but as far as I'm aware at the moment it's for an unpaid CC debt with the same bank in my ex's name.

When the house is sold will the debt be paid from both our shares or just his???

[ummmm]

I'd also like to know how a charge went on the house without my knowledge.....

[Ethel]

I assume the house is registered at the Land Registry.

You can download the Title Register for �3 - this will detail all the charges and so on

http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/

[R1Geezer]

Is the house yours alone or is it joint ownership?

In any case in order for a charge to be on there it must have either been forced by a court or put on by you and your ex. Are you sure you haven't signed anything even without being clear what it was?

Whether joint or not the charges will be paid first then the residue will be given to you or split depending on joint or not. It is then up to you to et your ex to repay the debt that is down to him/her.

[chrissa1]

Is the house in your joint names? You should know if it is or not and the Land Registry will tell you.

[ummmm]

It's in both names.

So can I presume that this debt will be paid first then the proceeds split?

If so....he's a jammy so and so....!!!

[themas]

No you cannot assume that! If the debt which resulted in the charge was in his sole name (i.e. that debt was not a joint one with you), then it can only be taken from his share of the property. So the total amount of the equity (i.e. after any joint mortgage and joint charges and selling costs have been deducted from the sale price) will be divided equally between the 2 of you. The charge will then be taken out of his share alone. If his share is not large enough to pay the charge in full then the balance will still remain as his sole debt - it cannot be taken from your share.

The charge should not have gone on without you being notified. Was he living with you at the time? Could he have intercepted mail addressed to you?

[Ethel]

You will find this interesting:

The house is in joint names but the debt is in my name

If the debt is in your sole name, but you own the house in joint names with someone else, they have the right to tell the court all the circumstances and why they would suffer hardship if a charging order is made. They should have been sent a copy of the interim charging order and given an opportunity to go to the hearing to put their points. For example:

* Who paid for the deposit to buy the home?
* Who has made the mortgage payments since?
* If there are children at home, ask the court to put a condition that the house cannot be sold by the creditor until the children have grown up.
* The co-owner will need to file and serve written evidence of their objections at least 7 days before the hearing.

If a charging order is made by the court, then it will only apply to your share of the property.

http://www.insolvencyhelpline.co.uk/debt_facts heets/charging_orders_in_the_county_court.php# 5

[Eve]

The bank will have got an interim charging order from the court if the debt had not been paid allowing it to be registered on the property.

When did it go on? (should say on the title).

Is it still an interim order or have they got a final one (should say on the title - send me a copy by email if you're not sure).

Copies of the application would have had to have been served on the debtor (your ex) and any other creditors as the court directed (eg a mortgage lender). See 73.5 of the CPR here...

http://www.justice.gov.uk/civil/procrules_fin/ contents/parts/part73.htm#IDATGAR

Copy of the application form here where you should have been noted as a co-owner...

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder /forms/n379_0302.pdf

If it's all his debt it should only be paid from his half.

Ethel's link is slightly out of date, there aren't any cautions anymore, they are registered by Agreed Notice (Form AN1) due to the court order.

If you need any more help give me a shout on FB.

[ummmm]

Ok...

I got the property in 1999...he went on the mortgage in app 2005. He could have intercepted the mail. I kinda left things to him.

I put a deposit of �8,000 down on the house. Years before I started going out with him. I put this down in my name and my name only. I paid the mortgage and ALL bills.

I'm annoyed. He's going to take my money :-(

[themas]

You say he went on the mortgage in 2005, so presumably that was when he also went on the title. Did he contribute to the mortgage - either before or after he went on the title? Do you own as joint tenants or as tenants in common?

If the latter, you should have specified the % of the house each of you own when he went on the title. If the former then I think the normal presumption as a starting point is that you own 50% each. However, I think this can be disputed if you can show that your contribution to the costs was much greater than his. Perhaps Jenna could comment on this?