'My partner cut me out of our £3.5m buy-to-let portfolio - but left my name on a mortgage'
09-05-2015
A reader's request to have her name removed from a joint home loan has turned in to a never-ending saga. The Telegraph's consumer champion intervenes
Nationwide said, 'In order for one party to be removed from a mortgage, both parties have to agree...,' after a lot of bureaucracy it was finally done
By Jessica Gorst-Williams
Can you please help me resolve what seems to be a never ending saga with UCB Home Loans ?
My partner and I began living together in 1994 when we started a buy-to-let portfolio. By 1998 it was worth about £3.5m with our home valued at close to £1m with no mortgage. My partner was earning a six-figure sum generated through properties.
My time was spent finding suitable ones, furnishing them and finding agents to manage them.
Without explanation or discussion my partner, to my shock, decided our relationship had run its course. He changed the locks on our home, closed our joint bank accounts and basically left me homeless and penniless overnight apart from some of my personal possessions.
These he left in bin bags outside our home. I have never had access to it since.
I am desperately unhappy about the way UCB is handling my request for my name to be removed from a mortgage. I would really appreciate your assistance to bring closure to a very unhappy episode in my life.
SM, England
For five years you pursued the various issues raised through the courts. Deeming that you had failed to prove you had added value to the business you were awarded a not very large lump sum in the context of the scenario you describe.
Your ex-partner kept the properties. One, though, was left in your joint names even though all the rent had all along been paid into your ex-partner’s account and he had paid the mortgage.
You are now in your early sixties and getting your life back with two jobs. You need to put the past behind you.
After a lot of bureaucracy it was agreed that your name could be taken off the mortgage as your ex-partner had agreed to this. You paid a £90 valuation fee but then all went very quiet.
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I approached Nationwide, of which UCB Home Loans is a subsidiary. It said: “In order for one party to be removed from a mortgage, both parties have to agree and the remaining partner must meet the eligibility and affordability criteria in their own right.”
You were told that a payment of £47,863 needed to be made to facilitate the mortgage separation. Later on, this was recalculated as £5,500.
Nationwide now says: “We apologise to Mrs M that the information initially given was incorrect. As a gesture of goodwill we will be waiving the actual money owed.
“The process for removing Mrs M from the mortgage is now under way and will be completed once we receive the relevant form from both solicitors. The society will also be offering the customer £250 compensation for the stress and inconvenience involved in resolving this matter.”
The letter you received, though, offered £150 compensation. I pointed out the discrepancy and you now have £250.
You are pleased with what amounts to a £5,750 resolution.