www.iva.co.uk

I have debt relating to credit cards, a personal loan etc which I am managing to just about pay monthly. In respect of the cards its purely the minimum payment.

However the marital home my ex-wife currently is living in is likely to be repossesed with negative equity. She is moving elsewhere and I am not in a position to take over the mortgage so its likely we will just hand the keys back. Its likely to be in negative equity to the tune of around 10-20,000.

I have read on here you cannot put mortgage arrears into an IVA, but a debt owed to the mortgage provider following the sale of the property.....can that be put into an IVA? And if so how would it be split if it was a joint mortgage and obviously myself and my ex-wife want to sever all ties? Appreciate the banks will chase both persons

Hi, Once the house is repossessed and sold, the shortfall will no longer be secured and, so, can be included in an IVA.

The resulting loan will be joint between you and the ex. As such it can be included in your IVA, however the ex will then be pursued for the full amount and will have to come to some arrangement for repayment with the lender, or enter into her own solution.

Thats the bit I cant quite get my head around. Whilst if I go into an IVA I guess they will probably never get the full amount back - can they then chase me for it when my IVA finishes? I guess in principal that has to be a no - but if my ex wife is still trying to pay it back outside of an IVA the debt is still "live", and in joint names?

Hi Harry and welcome to the forum

You can build the shortfall debt into your IVA before the property has sold as a contingent debt - this means it will come into the IVA once the property has sold and the shortfall will be captured in your IVA.

If you decide to enter into an IVA this will deal with your "liability" but not your ex wifes liability - they can continue to persue her for the balance until she makes her own arrangements.

They will not be able to come back to you for any shortfall once your IVA is accepted or after completion of your IVA

And do remember that you are both liable for the full amount of the shortfall - it is not a 50/50 split when it comes to joint liability unfortunately.

Hi, melanie has answered for you. The only thing I could add is we gave the keys back and it has caused problems getting a mortgage now we have completed. We would have let the reposses if we knew what we know now. We have been deemed "too toxic" by a few mortgage providers. We have found one but they want 50 per cent deposit and a Guarantor . Just sharing a bit of info incase you want to buy again in the future. you may not be able to hang on for repossesion though. Good luck

That is useful to know Gina - I wouldn't have thought in a million years that handing the keys back would have been viewed any differently to a reposession.

I'm sure you'll have better luck if you try again in a year or so...and you'll havv a bigger deposit to play with by then!!!