I would offer £100 per month back as a token of goodwill (i.e. £3,600).
I know this is more than you're willing to pay, but it may sweeten her up a bit and may persuade her to leave amicably.
Seriously, why would you do that? She's lived cheap for 3 years and still has her own property which presumably she's made money out of. Is she out of pocket at all? I would give her sod all. The 2 grand Chris_from_Sidcup has offered is more than generous.
Act with dignity. It is only money, you have had happy times together I assume so you should behave honourably.
Seriously?
Id be interested to hear what she was paying and how long for before i could honestly say.
3 years, £400 a month.
In that case, I'd calculate average monthly bills (not including mortgage) and divide by two and take that off of the £400 as that's just costs that you've sunk together for day to day living. The remainder would be contribution towards mortgage.
Over the period, look at what proportion of your mortgage was capital repayment and what was servicing of interest (if you're early on in your mortgage it'll be heavily interest - for example on a 5% rate, after the first three years of a 25 year mortgage, roughly one third of your payments will have paid off capital and two thirds paid straight to interest). Given she's been living in your house she should at least contribute to servicing of interest.
Then I'd offer her:
(£400 less 50% share of monthly bills) x capital % of mortgage payments x 36.
That'll be the capital that she's paid off of your mortgage (though of course a usual tenant wouldn't be entitled to this back, this isn't really that situation though).
Factoring in council tax, fuel, phone, Sky, buildings and contents insurance, groceries etc, I would be surprised if she ended up being owed 50% of her total payments back. In fact your initial offer is probably generous.
That's not a legally backed offer by the way, just what I'd do!
I would offer £100 per month back as a token of goodwill (i.e. £3,600).
I know this is more than you're willing to pay, but it may sweeten her up a bit and may persuade her to leave amicably.
Seriously, why would you do that? She's lived cheap for 3 years and still has her own property which presumably she's made money out of. Is she out of pocket at all? I would give her sod all. The 2 grand Chris_from_Sidcup has offered is more than generous.
Three reasons:
1) To get rid of her 2) I'm a nice guy 3) so she doesn't come back cap in hand saying you only gave me £2k.
I dont know either of the party's or anything about their relationship past or present, and I'm assuming that like me, Rizzo has quoted a compromise figure.
There was a programme on R4 about this very subject not long ago with the exact same scenario as your own. As I remember it,the woman had no legal rights to any monies at all.
You obviously want to do the decent thing,but your bargaining hand is the much stronger.
Ha ha i know she's taking the piss, you all know she's taking the piss, and i'm quite sure even she knows she's taking the piss, but i wanted to check if anyone had been in this situation and knew if the law was on my side as quite often in this country, the law ends up f*cking people over. That woman on the front page of the Sun today having a new 6 bed house built for her 11 kids is taking the piss but it's still going ahead!
I think i will do what John Boy suggested, go along to a solicitor and then get something in writing.
Sorry to hear Chris. Never nice when something doesn't end amicably.
Awkard situation. The fact she has another property, has been making on that completely changes the situation in my opinion.
I think you are being fair in what you are offering. Technically, I would assume she is entitled to nothing. Assuming you haven't been overpaying, I personally would calculate what was outstanding on the mortgage 3 years ago, what is outstanding now, halve that figure and offer her that. Bet it is less than the £2k.
Remember she hasn't just 'been giving you £400pm' as a gesture or investment. Its been providing a roof over her head and gas, electric, water etc that she has been using.
I'd definately take the advice of speaking to a solicitor or searching out a relevant legal forum to ask your question to an audience that will know the legal answer.
I'm afraid I can't offer you any advice on the legal aspect Chris, however, one thing I would suggest is that you don't let her do the back, sack and crack wax.
Don't really get how she deserves anything, surely she's just been paying rent? she has no real money invested in the house? She's probably been living there on the cheap compared to what she actually would've paid if she'd lived in a flat with friends or whatever?
Chris, who initiated the split? If she's already pissed off with you because you've dumped her, changing the locks and leaving her stuff outside is just going to make things worse. I agree that working out what her share of the bills actually was will give you a better idea of what she's contributed to the mortgage. But then living with you mean she's been able to get someone to pay the mortgage on her flat while she's not been there, so it's not like you're the only one that's benefitted financially from the situation. You might not want to get a solicitor involved, but if you know your legal position then you can put your foot down if she is just taking the piss.
Comments
I've had it for 6, she's lived there for 3.
I would say she's done well there.
I would offer £100 per month back as a token of goodwill (i.e. £3,600).
I know this is more than you're willing to pay, but it may sweeten her up a bit and may persuade her to leave amicably.
Over the period, look at what proportion of your mortgage was capital repayment and what was servicing of interest (if you're early on in your mortgage it'll be heavily interest - for example on a 5% rate, after the first three years of a 25 year mortgage, roughly one third of your payments will have paid off capital and two thirds paid straight to interest). Given she's been living in your house she should at least contribute to servicing of interest.
Then I'd offer her:
(£400 less 50% share of monthly bills) x capital % of mortgage payments x 36.
That'll be the capital that she's paid off of your mortgage (though of course a usual tenant wouldn't be entitled to this back, this isn't really that situation though).
Factoring in council tax, fuel, phone, Sky, buildings and contents insurance, groceries etc, I would be surprised if she ended up being owed 50% of her total payments back. In fact your initial offer is probably generous.
That's not a legally backed offer by the way, just what I'd do!
1) To get rid of her
2) I'm a nice guy
3) so she doesn't come back cap in hand saying you only gave me £2k.
I'll send Trevor round.
You obviously want to do the decent thing,but your bargaining hand is the much stronger.
Good luck...
Ha ha i know she's taking the piss, you all know she's taking the piss, and i'm quite sure even she knows she's taking the piss, but i wanted to check if anyone had been in this situation and knew if the law was on my side as quite often in this country, the law ends up f*cking people over. That woman on the front page of the Sun today having a new 6 bed house built for her 11 kids is taking the piss but it's still going ahead!
I think i will do what John Boy suggested, go along to a solicitor and then get something in writing.
If the answer to this is yes, then I'd give the £3,600.
£400 a month? Hope you declared that to the taxman
Awkard situation. The fact she has another property, has been making on that completely changes the situation in my opinion.
I think you are being fair in what you are offering. Technically, I would assume she is entitled to nothing. Assuming you haven't been overpaying, I personally would calculate what was outstanding on the mortgage 3 years ago, what is outstanding now, halve that figure and offer her that. Bet it is less than the £2k.
Remember she hasn't just 'been giving you £400pm' as a gesture or investment. Its been providing a roof over her head and gas, electric, water etc that she has been using.
I'd definately take the advice of speaking to a solicitor or searching out a relevant legal forum to ask your question to an audience that will know the legal answer.
Had a similar situation myself, changed the locks. Sounds harsh but needs to be done.
Good luck.