property lawyer

[PrAzZz]

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a good property lawyer that could deal with issues around repossession?

My wife is in a bit of a situation. Basically took out a mortgage(s) to help a family member out 5-6 years ago and now its all gone tits up on their end. Really stupid thing to do but now we need to sort this mess out somehow.

Thanks

P

[Rag_It]

Where are you based?

[robin]

Not wanting to do the lawyers out of their fees, but in what sense is legal advice needed here? In terms of your rights under a mortgage contract I would think CAB or similar will be able to tell you where you stand legally, what options the lending bank has if the payments aren't being made and also whether you'll be able to negotiate a deal with them?

Anyway, there are a few lawyers on here so hopefully they'll be able to recommend somebody that can offer you professional advice, but I would suggest taking the free advice route first ...

Cheers,
Robin

[pete]

To translate...

OP needs a few strong chaps to help someone move.

Said "someone" may resist.

[PrAzZz]

I live in Glasgow and work on St Vincent Street. Not going to reveal a more precise location thanthan that. I dont want a stalker on my hands.

She took the mortgages out for her brother. A gun was not put on her but they were taken out with a certain amount of family pressure and coercion. I'm sure if it wasn't her brother, he would have been told where to go. So her brother has been pocketing the rent for years with the risk on her
head. I have no idea whats happend on his side but all the properties are now being repossessed. She was not even aware of the situation until a week or two ago as he has been hiding the true extent of how bad things are.

I just want to get down to bottom of where she stands in terms of the law.

Can the mortgages be annulled?
Can the brother be held accountable for some or all of this?
Can any debts be transfered to him?

Hes a dodgy dell boy type character and I dont want my wife to get screwed over because of him.

Thank you for the replies. Apologies if this doesnt make sense, sending from my mobile. The law bit at bottom should be in the questions above, I cant scroll down to delete it!!!

Ta,
P

Has he broken some law?

[pete]

I live in Glasgow and work on St Vincent Street. Not going to reveal a more precise location thanthan that. I dont want a stalker on my hands.

She took the mortgages out for her brother. A gun was not put on her but they were taken out with a certain amount of family pressure and coercion. I'm sure if it wasn't her brother, he would have been told where to go. So her brother has been pocketing the rent for years with the risk on her
head. I have no idea whats happend on his side but all the properties are now being repossessed. She was not even aware of the situation until a week or two ago as he has been hiding the true extent of how bad things are.

I just want to get down to bottom of where she stands in terms of the law.

Can the mortgages be annulled?
Can the brother be held accountable for some or all of this?
Can any debts be transfered to him?

Hes a dodgy dell boy type character and I dont want my wife to get screwed over because of him.

Thank you for the replies. Apologies if this doesnt make sense, sending from my mobile. The law bit at bottom should be in the questions above, I cant scroll down to delete it!!!

Ta,
P

Has he broken some law?

Now i feel bad for my sarky post.

I'm not a lawyer. I think she would be able to sue him, or perhaps, depending on the nature of their agreement, it might even be either fraud or theft.

If she holds a mortgage that hasn't been paid then I thought she would be liable, so the bank will come after her for the money.
If she then pursues her brother that will be between her and him, the bank will chase whoever signed the forms. (Even after a repossession if the property sale doesn't cover the debt the bank will chase the mortgage owner for the balance.)

None of that is good news for your wife. Citizen's advice are supposed to be great - but call them straight away - the longer you leave it the worse it will get. I would imagine, from what you say, that the brother is very close to going bankrupt in which case when might find it very difficult to get money off him unless she acts quickly.

[woody]

GF's sister works in property for a respected firm in Edinburgh. Don't have her details to hand, but can PM them later.

[PrAzZz]

Thanks for the replies guys. I will get her to go down to the nearest Citizens Advice place asap.

[cstrachan]

Thanks for the replies guys. I will get her to go down to the nearest Citizens Advice place asap.

You can phone them and get the ball rolling. I would also be phoning the bank and seeing what they can do.

If your better half is the sole owner of the property on the deeds then I would be making sure any rental now comes to you, if the tenant has been paying the BIL via direct debit or the like you could ask for a copy of some statements as you could use this as evidence that he has been illegally profiting from something he does not own.

It sounds like this could become a right mess with trying to recover money from family - hope you get it all sorted soon.

[Dominic]

Graham (user name; Titanium S1 111s (gla) ) is your best bet for some advice ...(in the weege).

[j2 lot]

Should be possible to 'cut her brother out of the loop' & deal with the bank direct - if you can demonstrate that you /she can meet mortgage payments going forward the bank may agree to back off with repossession. It then leaves you to:
a) manage the property as a rental
b) sell up to settle the debt and hopefully pocket and equity.

You can then chase her brother for cash without the weight of repossession and bills hanging over you .

Not a nice situation to be in

[PrAzZz]

Yeah, not a good situation. Shes scared her family will stop talking to her if she takes steps against him.

We dont have any joint accounts, loans or joint property. So I should be ok.

The sad thing is that we have been putting together a deposit for our own place and almost ready to apply for a joint mortgage. Looks well off now.

[philthy]

Yeah, not a good situation. Shes scared her family will stop talking to her if she takes steps against him.

If the family sides with him then sounds like they arent worth bothering with.

[Andy G]

Can't believe someones brother would do this to them...WTF

Best of luck with getting it resolved

[robin]

Agreed that there is no need to start family war when avoidable, but in this case she must assert her ownership of the properties (not sure how much equity the brother put in, but hopefully that will be less than the accumulated cost of his non-payment of the mortgage) and if that causes friction in the family, tough luck.

You might have to spend money to make the situation good, but assuming the basic rent > mortgage condition is met, you really don't want the banks to repo the properties I think.

Cheers,
Robin