Please help, im so stuck

[kirsty.s]

Hi There, Ok me & My ex partner split up 5 months ago, i am 20, we have been in the house we were buying for 1.5yrs, now when we split neither of us paid the mortgage, well i did at the start, but i just cudnt see the point when he wasnt either.

Now we have recieved several letters saying that we owe Northern Rock around £2500. Now they keep on ringing me & asking if i can pay it, but theres just no way i can get that kind of money from anywhere.

Now i made a appointment to go & see a man at Northern Rock, but instead he rang me & he was really helpfull, he advised me that it would be for the best if we just handed our keys back to them as they might write the debt of, as we bought house for £90k, got a loan out do do it up for £15, so we owe £105, but me ex partner has done that many damages to the house, its only on the market for £95. As he smashed it up after we split.

Im really stuck as iv had the house on the market now for 4wks n no ones even came to llok at it, but i really dont no what to so about house, as they said they would send the forms out & then we would have a week to get all our stuff out the house, Please help, im so stuck. Kirsty, Newcastle

[MelanieGiles]

Hi Kirsty

On balance, and if you cannot afford to maintain the mortgage payments on this property, then you may well be better off handing the keys back to Northern Rock at this point in time. Once you have missed three months mortgage payments they have the right to repossess the property in any case, so you are merely speeding up that process and avoiding expensive legal costs which you may well end up funding.

Try and negotiate a settlement with them firstly - and if they say they will write the debt off then get that confirmed in writing. Also bear in mind that if there is any shortfall, your former partner will also be jointly liable for that debt.

So sorry to hear this story - but I guess at the age of 20 with the rest of your life ahead of you, you will bounce back! Good luck!