Tourist bankruptcy

user11035

Hi everyone, this is my first time posting on here.

I am in a very sticky situation at the moment. I co own a house with a big mortgage. The other joint owner has moved out and is not contributing to the mortgage and I am not working and I`m also pregnant. I have tried to get help but there are so many restrictions and red tape.

It has been suggested that maybe going bankrupt in the UK would be an option for me as living in Ireland with a baby alone, paying rent somewhere else and this huge debt of the house would be impossible.
The banks have told us that they are not willing to let a single party take over the house as we are both not mortgage approval worthy at the moment.
I need to get something sorted as I have a baby on the way, I cant apply for council housing here as I`m tied to this place.

Does anyone have any input on going bankrupt in the UK? Apparantly the term of bankruptcy lasts from 1 - 6 years over there..where as over here it is up to 12 - 15 years.

I`m in a real dilemma, I just wondered if anyone had any advice.

Sorry for the long winded post.

Delancey

To my knowledge the first step in declaring bankruptcy in the UK is to establish residence in the UK - are you in a position to move over there and do this ?

Zambia

This is not legal advice, plus I am assuming the house is in deep Negative Equity

You also may ask some of the folks on the Accomodation and Property Forum as they are a mine of usefull Property info. Also try the social welfare Forum.

You also need to talk to the Social welfare services in Person.

You may also find some help in the PI Forum in relation to getting the Father/Joint owner to start paying for his baby.

Best of Luck whatever you decide to do.

BrianD

There is currently a case of alledged tourist bankruptcy about to go before the European courts.

You would have to show that you were ordinarily resident in the UK for some time.

user11035

Thank you for your replies, I have family in the UK. I am going over next week to try and find a way around this, and to get the ball rolling as soon as I can.
I guess all I can do is try.

eth0_

You need to prove your primary residency is in the UK. That means you need to prove to the judge you've been living and working in the UK for 6-12 months before you can petition the court for bankruptcy. They are cracking down on 'bankruptcy tourism' here and if you can't prove you moved here for legitimate reasons (i.e. not with the sole intention of going bankrupt), the judge will refuse your request.

The bankruptcy period in the UK lasts 6-12 months before it is discharged. However, your credit rating will be affected for 6 years. From what i've heard you can obtain credit 1-2 years after your bankruptcy is discharged but obviously you won't be able to obtain good interest rates until your credit rating is completely clean.

Also, are you aware of the costs involved in going bankrupt in the UK? I think the court cost is £175 and the fee for managing your bankruptcy is around £500.

ambid

Article in the Guardian from February on bankruptcy tourism
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/feb/18/ireland-property-crash-bankruptcy-tourism

Good luck.

Just so you know residency isn't the main criteria the British courts will look at. Instead they will look for your centre of main interests. Where you work, live, own property and/or conduct your business are all factors to be taken into consideration when deciding upon this.

The British Courts are coming down pretty hard on bankruptcy tourism and so are the banks. If you have a big mortgage and shoot off to the UK your creditors will have to be notified and they can make representations to the Court. There are jurisdiction cases under the Insolvency Regulation being conducted in the Irish, British and European Courts at the moment and none of this is as straightforward as some posters represent.

swordofislam

BrianD wrote: »

You would have to show that you were ordinarily resident in the UK for some time.

What is the basis for this claim?
In practise though this is good advice but 6 months is long enough. To be sure you should both live in the UK and also earn your living from the UK.

eth0_ wrote: »

You need to prove your primary residency is in the UK.

Yes and that means where you live and where you earn your money from and where you pay tax or claim benefits.

eth0_ wrote: »

That means you need to prove to the judge you've been living and working in the UK for 6-12 months before you can petition the court for bankruptcy.

In practical terms you are absolutely right. But in theory . COMI can be established on the 1st day of residence!

Deleted User wrote: »

The British Courts are coming down pretty hard on bankruptcy tourism and so are the banks.

Stephen Baister is the main bankruptcy judge for England and Wales. He has a book out soon on this subject.

Stephen_Baister wrote:

"If an O'Neill or a Joyce turns up and gives an address in the UK, you think no more of it.".

Who cares what the banks ( I assume that you mean the Irish banks) want? The Irish banks will be your creditor, no wonder they are against a decent bankruptcy regime.
Once COMI is established it is established. Ireland demanded liberal recognition of COMI in the Parmalat case and that must be assumed to be the law here.

eth0_

Deleted User wrote: »

Just so you know residency isn't the main criteria the British courts will look at. Instead they will look for your centre of main interests. Where you work, live, own property and/or conduct your business are all factors to be taken into consideration when deciding upon this.

Sorry yes, I meant to say centre of main interests, not residency.

eth0_

swordofislam wrote: »

In practical terms you are absolutely right. But in theory . COMI can be established on the 1st day of residence!

From what i've heard, Courts in London won't grant bankruptcy unless you've been living in the UK for a considerable amount of time, at least 6-12 months minimum. And quite right, too.

goat2

have you not considered renting this property and whatever you get in rent have a chat with bank and see can you come to an agreement that the rent for now to keep things afloat with the bank, as it is hard right now on you with a baby on the way, say 2 yrs down line you will have a clearer view of things

Our man in Havana

eth0_ wrote: »

From what i've heard, Courts in London won't grant bankruptcy unless you've been living in the UK for a considerable amount of time, at least 6-12 months minimum. And quite right, too.

In practice they don't check residency at all. It is only if someone kicks up will anything be done.

eth0_

Our man in Havana wrote: »

In practice they don't check residency at all. It is only if someone kicks up will anything be done.

A friend of mine (from Germany) declared himself bankrupt in London and he had to show the judge his passport, the original version of the rental contract for his flat, and proof he had been working here for a considerable length of time (payslips, I think). The person managing his bankruptcy said that judges here have become much stricter with 'foreigners' in the last year or two.

Our man in Havana

With Irish people less checks are done, particularly in places that loads of Irish frequent.

eth0_

Our man in Havana wrote: »

With Irish people less checks are done, particularly in places that loads of Irish frequent.

I find that hard to believe. An Irish person is as foreign as a French or German person, it would discriminatory to treat us any differently just because there's a lot of us in the UK! And it's particularly odd given the current 'trend' for Irish people to indulge in 'bankruptcy tourism'.

What is your source on that? How do you know fewer checks are done on Irish people?

goat2

maybe four or five years ago you would have been able to do this in england, but because of what is going on here they will be stricter