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my boyfriend and i are in a dmp, he is self employed and has had no work for 6 weeks, i have been struggling to keep us afloat all this time, however this month we missed our mortgage payment, as it was normally his income that would cover this,he also has had to gice back a leased work van as he cannot afford to keep it - he has now received a bill for 5k for coming out of the contract early, he also cannot pay his whole salers as he has got no income, he owes them 5k too. He has received a letter from a solicitor acting for his wholesalers saying they are going to lodge a bankruptcy against him at 10am tomorrow. his total debt including that in the dmp is now 21k, can someone please give advice as to our house situation as mortgage is joint, would be lose our home (no equity 118k mortgage now worth 105 max)

Hey leigah, welcome to the forum. Your home is always at risk when you are made bankrupt but if there is no equity and you can afford the mortgage payments, then you will be able to ask a family member or friend to buy out the beneficial interest for a £1 plus solicitors costs. Are you struggling to pay the mortgage because of your debt repayments?

its my boyfriend that is being made bankrupt - can i buy out his half for a pound - im confused how does this work?, im struggling to pay for all living costs on just one salary as he is unemployed at the moment, can i apply for reduced payments on my dmp? wont this make all our creditors angry and start adding interest and call us up non stop again?

Yes - you would be able to make an offer for your boyfriend's interest in the property, but only after the Official Receiver had received an independent valuation of the property and a mortgage redemption statement to confirm the amount of that interest.

What a shame to hear of another skilled trader caught up in the mess of the "credit crunch". I imagine that he has worked really hard to get where he is right now.

Hi leigah

The bankruptcy thing may well be a bluff.

It costs quite a lot of money to make someone bankrupt and it's very unlikely someone would do it unless they were pretty sure of a good return, which seems unlikely from what you have said.

Also, your b/f should have received something called a Statutory Demand which should have been delivered by a bailiff. If this hasn't happened, it's possibly just means of drawing attention.

Best Regards

So if he does get bankrupted - and i make an offer for his half - what happens to our mortage - would i need to apply for one in just my name? i dont think the bank would lend me the whole amount especially with the current lending situation. can they take anything else all we have is household items

No - you would just carry on paying the mortgage in the usual manner with both names remaining on the debt.

The Bankruptcy people won't be interested in normal household stuff.

If your DMP people are any good, they should be able to renegotiate different terms for you based on your current situation, but it would make the DMP longer.

It does not cost loads to make someone bankrupt. Acting as a Trustee in Bankruptcy (as Melanie can confirm) can cost as little as £900!

David, I think that depends on your definition of 'loads'

The Insolvency Service website has a good FAQ on this, it is;

Question : How do I make someone else bankrupt?
Answer : Instruct a solicitor, but be aware that this is likely to cost you £1500.

It is horses for courses - there is the court petition costs plus solicitors fees. I have solicitors that will do the work for £400 to £500 or one can do it yourself - not too difficult.

Hi
Probably true to say David that creditor petitioned bankruptcy is quite unusual when chasing credit card/unsecured loan debts ? and that many times it is used as a bluffing tactic as G4B states
Regards

I think you are right there Andy. I actually have some personal experience of this.

I was sent a Stat. Demand by no less than American Express, or rather their solicitor, or rather their solicitor's bailiff/delivery boy.

As I was ready to go bankrupt by then anyway I thought getting someone else to pay for it would be the icing on the cake and tried to goad and annoy them as much as possible.

But of course they did nothing and I ended up having to stump up myself.

Typical.