housing association / mutual exchange / joint tenancy

[6mark901]

hello everyone,

 we live in a HA property and have found someone to do a mutual exchange with. The problem is , the man we want to swap with has  a joint tenancy with his wife who walked out 4 years ago.The HA are saying that the only way the exchange can take place is if she goes to their offices and removes her name from tenacy, problem being the wife now lives the other end of the country ,apparently it cant be done by post

has anybody else been in a similar situation ?

[**towery**]

is there any other way they would accept a letter sent by her

say if she had it notorised by  a notary public where she is?

[**towery**]

what sort of travel difference  is it

could you offer  to pay travel / overnight hotel cost for her?

[****merlin*****]

wouldnt an affidavit suffice?

even if you covered the solicitors fees, it may not be as costly as transportation/hotel etc

[6mark901]

shes written a letter stating she wishes to be removed but apparantly thats not good enough, the housing bloke insists she go into their office to sign the forms.Shes asked about an alternative but been told there isnt oneThe housing bloke has a reputation of being awkward but this is ridiculous.Shes in yorkshire and were in cornwall so its not as if she can pop in. She was down recently but only for a couple of days and was told it was too short notice   Shes been down 3 times in 4 years so god knows when shell be down again. I just cant believe there isnt another way ?  i really feel the housing bloke is pulling a fast one

[mustard-tree]

As it seems to be the other housing association that is being awkward, have you tried contacting the ombudsman to negotiate.

http://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/

[6mark901]

its the same HA, it should be a straight forward mutual exchange. 

[6mark901]

i should add that the reason we think hes being so awkward is weve both had cause to complain about his behaviour in the past (along with several other tenants ive no doubt ), so we now feel hes being like this out of spite.

weve both searched the internet for hours trying to find any info on this but all we can find is how to remove a name, not what to do if theyve moved away

[aernethril]

She needs to get advice from CAB since she is still liable for anything within that original joint tenancy contract and he needs to get advice from CAB over the fact that they've had this joint tenancy without joing occupancy for 4 years.

Whilst you have nothing to lose by raising a(nother) formal complaint, technically it is really the other party and his ex who need to be complaining that these obstacles are being put in the way of ending the tenancy agreement.

There may be other issues about the other party ending a tenancy agreement which was a joint tenancy agreement but where one party has not been living there for some years.

[6mark901]

thankyou , the other party is a good friend of ours which is why i know what the problem is. I think its time we took things further 

[cookiecookuk]

if it is the same HA is there not an office near her which she can sign in and then they fax it through to this office .

[**towery**]

i'd be finding out who the housing guy's  answers to and sending them a letter special delivery  to ask if there was a work around using  notary or if they could suggest another way for this transfer to go forward

[aernethril]

The thing is, it's about the contract that your friend and his ex still have with the HA and they need to sort this out.

If there was a joint tenancy and now the HA find out that there has only been one occupant for 4 years, it may not be considered unreasonable for them to insist that the 'missing' party has to complete the forms in person, to end that contract.

I would assume that it cannot be a straightforward exchange (like for like) as one person will not be exchanging and the person (your friend) who does want to change houses with you, will presumably now be a sole tenant.

I'd have said that quite simply, the issue of whether your friend's ex has to sign over their part of the contract in person or not is actually nothing to do with you.

The HA could even say it's a matter of Data Protection that they cannot discuss the other contract with you.

[6mark901]

the issue of whether your friend's ex has to sign over their part of the contract in person or not is actually nothing to do with you.

yes it is., i want to move into his place as much as he wants to move here and this is all thats stopping it from happening .i know this person well and were trying to put our heads together to find a solution

The HA could even say it's a matter of Data Protection that they cannot discuss the other contract with you.

im not expecting them to discuss it with me, i would pass on any info to him