www.iva.co.uk

Have an agreed sale on our house but my ex has an IVA on his name on the house. Is there a formal process that needs to be completed from our point of you to the solicitor to make sure the buyer is not kept wiaitng whilst the IVA paid off and sale to go ahead?

Hi Helen, there will be a restriction on the deeds at Land Registry which will need to be lifted by your ex's IP, as he / she will need to keep account of your ex's share of the equity, if there is any.

The buyers solicitors will query the restriction with your solicitor in due course, so I would advise putting your solicitor and your ex's IP in touch with each other sooner rather than later.

If it is joint names then the charge should have been signed by both parties. Do you remember ever signing a restriction when your partner went into the IVA.

He needs to clarify this with his IP to make sure they are informed of the sale. His share of the equity [if any]may be an asset of his IVA and any shortfall would form a debt within the IVA.

IVA in his name only, dont remember signing anything but not too sure now.
There is equity in the house to pay the IVA off, but this will leave him with nothing to come out with from his half, so will they take the whole lot of his half or do they do settlement figures where they can negotiate.
I am just concerned that removing restrictions will have an effect on the sale of the property as dont want that to happen, so do I tell my ex to now contact his financial advisor and ask for help in negotiating his IVA before the sale goes ahead?

Personally I would say get him to talk to his financial advisor sooner rather than later.
They can only take his half of any equity, it could be that the amount he gets can be enough to offer as a full and final settlement.
Double check if you did sign anything, your solicitor will be able to do a land registry search for any restrictions, I forget what the document name is, something like CR1 or RX1, but Foggy or someone will remember. If there is no document then the IP will not be able to delay the sale, this does not mean your partner will not have to hand the money over though once the sale is complete. I think solicitors have a duty to hold onto his share and pass it over anyway.

It is possible that your ex is entitled to retain 15% equity in the property depending on the wording of the proposal. He needs to get clarification from his IP before the sale completes of what his obligations are and if necessary his IP could call another meeting of creditors to offer a full and final settlement. He could retain some funds to start again and move on with his life.

It's an RX1, if Nick's faith in my memory is well founded.

A agree, get everyone around the table and working together sooner rather than later.

Thank you for messages and information. Have just got off phone and passed all this to my ex, he is going to speak with his Financial Advisor chap tonight and ask him to go to the IVA company and ask for a final and settlement meeting with the creditors to get the ball moving sharpish as the solicitor will need to know all the details very soon and what he then needs to do.
We do think their is some restriction on the land registry, like the RX1 so I am not sure what complications this may cause. H

I am suprised that your solicitor has not picked up on this Helen. The RX1, if it exists, will show at HM Land Registry and will have to be removed before the purchaser's solicitor is able to proceed. At the end of the day, if you have a good sale price agreed, don't let this stand in the way. Your solicitor can always hold the funds on undertaking for your ex-partner's IP.