Joint House Ownership - Is Repossession Possible?

[pizzatime]

Hello,

The situation is quite complex.

Our father passed away when we were young. Myself and my two brothers inherited the property. All of the mortgage was paid off. All three of us jointly own the property.

The only person still in this three bedroom residence is one of my brothers. The bills for the utilities are now all in his name. I rent a property in another city, which I moved to for a job. My other brother lives with a family member.

Both my brothers are unemployed and have been living from their inheritance money. The brother who lives in the house is starting to run out of money. I am unable to get him to go to the job center with me to go on job seekers, so I can't even get him on benefits. I have filled in forms for him online, but he refuses to attend appointments.

I have paid bills for both this house and at my rented accommodation before. I don't have the savings I used to and can't afford to pay for both again.

My concern is that if bills are no longer paid on the property, whether all three of us could lose the house.

He often ignores letters that he gets through the door and I am concerned that debts could stack up without him realizing. It is very difficult to motivate him to acknowledge these types of things.

To summarize:

• All three of us jointly own the property
• Only one brother lives there, rent free
• The bills are in the name of the brother who still lives in the house
• There is no mortgage
• The current utilities are: water, sewage, electricity, gas, house/content insurance, TV licence and council tax
• If no bills are paid for these utilities, can all three of us lose the property?

Side Note: House is not in a rentable condition. My brother who lives in the residence has been damaging the house in various ways. Both toilets have been smashed, so there are no toilets that can be used without flooding the bathroom. There is some damp mould under the kitchen floorboards. There is also some extreme damage done to walls and the house is rarely cleaned. He has some anger issues.

Thanks

[Openlaw15]

Re: Joint House Ownership - Is Repossession Possible?

Hello,

The situation is quite complex.

Our father passed away when we were young. Myself and my two brothers inherited the property. All of the mortgage was paid off. All three of us jointly own the property.

The only person still in this three bedroom residence is one of my brothers. The bills for the utilities are now all in his name. I rent a property in another city, which I moved to for a job. My other brother lives with a family member.

Both my brothers are unemployed and have been living from their inheritance money. The brother who lives in the house is starting to run out of money. I am unable to get him to go to the job center with me to go on job seekers, so I can't even get him on benefits. I have filled in forms for him online, but he refuses to attend appointments.

I have paid bills for both this house and at my rented accommodation before. I don't have the savings I used to and can't afford to pay for both again.

My concern is that if bills are no longer paid on the property, whether all three of us could lose the house.

He often ignores letters that he gets through the door and I am concerned that debts could stack up without him realizing. It is very difficult to motivate him to acknowledge these types of things.

To summarize:

• All three of us jointly own the property
• Only one brother lives there, rent free
• The bills are in the name of the brother who still lives in the house
• There is no mortgage
• The current utilities are: water, sewage, electricity, gas, house/content insurance, TV licence and council tax
• If no bills are paid for these utilities, can all three of us lose the property?

Side Note: House is not in a rentable condition. My brother who lives in the residence has been damaging the house in various ways. Both toilets have been smashed, so there are no toilets that can be used without flooding the bathroom. There is some damp mould under the kitchen floorboards. There is also some extreme damage done to walls and the house is rarely cleaned. He has some anger issues.

Thanks

As two of you are the beneficiaries to majority shareholder joint tenancies, you could get a court order for sale or potentially the brother's eviction under the law. Each of you still has legal possession which is different to physical possession, ie not physically live there so you still have possessory rights. If the bills are not paid, the utilities will be switched off, ie water, gas, electricity. If there are debts that are not being paid the creditor could get a county court judgement, or against the property itself the brother is occupying, a charging order, which means the debt is secured by an interest in the property (well only for the debt). It may do you well to try to get a court order for his eviction or sale of the property before he damages it any more. It is potentially criminal damage too.

[pizzatime]

Re: Joint House Ownership - Is Repossession Possible?

A court order for sale was something I wanted to do a year ago. The main problem with that is more a moral one. I have been working for a few years, so I could use the money from the sale to put a deposit down on a new house (which would be amazing!!)

My brothers are both unable to get a mortgage as they have not been working. If I sold the house, they would both waste their money again. I was hoping that if I waited longer, they would start working. I also have an Auntie who is very against the selling of the property. The last time I mentioned it, she accused me of wanting to make my brothers homeless and they both panicked. She has asked me to wait until they are 25. My brothers are currently 24 and 21.

The other issue with a court order for sale is that I don't know where my brother who lives in the residence will go. A lot of family are concerned that he will damage their property in the same way that he has damaged our house.

It is probably the most sensible way forward, but I have been hoping that if I give him more time things would change.

I was mainly curious about whether or not all three of us could potentially lose the property if I continue to try to be kind. It would obviously be ridiculous if all three of us end up with nothing because I am trying to protect them both from wasting their money from the sale.

It has been suggested to me that getting CCJs will not lead to a Charging Order if you are on top of your repayments. But my biggest fear is that these debts build up without my knowledge. There is no house phone, his mobile is always off and he doesn't open letters. He also does not ask for help when he needs it. I am concerned about his mental health, but have had a doctor have a house visit (as he refused to go to the doctors with me) and they said that he is fine. I am still unsure though. But is very difficult to help someone who does not want you to help them.

Do you also know whether these utility bills not being paid will affect all of our credit ratings? Or just the credit rating of the persons name on the bills?

Thank you so much for your time by the way

[Openlaw15]

Re: Joint House Ownership - Is Repossession Possible?

A court order for sale was something I wanted to do a year ago. The main problem with that is more a moral one. I have been working for a few years, so I could use the money from the sale to put a deposit down on a new house (which would be amazing!!)

My brothers are both unable to get a mortgage as they have not been working. If I sold the house, they would both waste their money again. I was hoping that if I waited longer, they would start working. I also have an Auntie who is very against the selling of the property. The last time I mentioned it, she accused me of wanting to make my brothers homeless and they both panicked. She has asked me to wait until they are 25. My brothers are currently 24 and 21.

The other issue with a court order for sale is that I don't know where my brother who lives in the residence will go. A lot of family are concerned that he will damage their property in the same way that he has damaged our house.

It is probably the most sensible way forward, but I have been hoping that if I give him more time things would change.

I was mainly curious about whether or not all three of us could potentially lose the property if I continue to try to be kind. It would obviously be ridiculous if all three of us end up with nothing because I am trying to protect them both from wasting their money from the sale.

It has been suggested to me that getting CCJs will not lead to a Charging Order if you are on top of your repayments. But my biggest fear is that these debts build up without my knowledge. There is no house phone, his mobile is always off and he doesn't open letters. He also does not ask for help when he needs it. I am concerned about his mental health, but have had a doctor have a house visit (as he refused to go to the doctors with me) and they said that he is fine. I am still unsure though. But is very difficult to help someone who does not want you to help them.

Do you also know whether these utility bills not being paid will affect all of our credit ratings? Or just the credit rating of the persons name on the bills?

Thank you so much for your time by the way

Am not really au fait with credit ratings but many legalbeagles are on this forum/ thread/ website. You're clearly a good person but equally a good brother (the other) wouldn't let his family's property be ruined. It sounds like the brother is very selfish and that no amount of time you'll give him to sort himself out, give himself a good kick up the backside, will do you any good except be a detriment, ie the property will lose more money. Ultimately, the decision is yours but if it were my property i'd have him evicted for not paying rent for the 2/3s that he doesn't own. I would then fix his damage and sell it, charge him the amount it costs to fix the property to s saleable one, by reducing his 1/3 interest.