In 1997 The Royal Bank of Scotland repossessed my house(joint mortgage with ex wife),approx 1 yr earlier she walked out and three months prior to repossession,she purchased a second house.However she did not inform the lender of her involvement with the first lender.I now live in rented property and started work after nearly four years without. My question is that my ex wife is not approached (£12,000 shortfall) only me,she has worked for the same employer for 10 years.Up to the repossession the lender was informed of my situation.I could not transfer the mortgage due to a CSA assessment.Does her later property purchase affect the way the debt may be recovered?

-- Glen Jones (glenj70@hotmail.com), March 16, 2002

Answers

If your lender was aware that your ex-wife had left the property, then that would explain why they are chasing you for the shortfall and not her. I have seen in cases where there has been a marriage split, that the person left behind in the property is in the one which the lender chases. Its highly likely that the lender is not aware of where your ex-wife lives. Sometimes if they've latched onto one,they don't seem to bother with the other. As you had a joint mortgage, then you are both liable for the shortfall, so you should insist that the lender contacts your ex-wife as well.

If her new home has equity in it, then the old lender could, if they had a money judgement order for the shortfall, get a charging order on the house. This means when your ex-wife comes to sell her home, not only will she have to clear the mortgage she's got on it, but also pay off the amount she owes on the court order. It is possible for the lender with the charging order to force a sale however, but still the first mortgagee gets paid first.

I would recommend that you read through the information on this website for further information and make sure that the shortfall claim is fully justified.

-- pendle (pendle_666@yahoo.co.uk), March 17, 2002.