# From bankruptcy to a mortgage with Bank of Ireland!



## Jane09 (15 Jul 2018)

_ I have merged Jane's posts on this topic so that people can see the journey - Brendan _
Hi
Any more updates on anyone getting a mortgage since being discharged ? Or people who have approached banks what kind of response are you getting ? And who do you make appointments with to discuss getting a mortgage with ?
Mikel2007 any luck on the bank you approached ?
Thank you for any responses in advance.


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## Dauhee (15 Jul 2018)

Things that will help you:

meet face to face, build a relationship, try get an area/territory sales manager

having 12+ months since discharge
have a savings/current bank account with the bank you are applying to and have your wages put in, 12+ months of this can help

have good disposable income (according to their scoring system)
if joint application, if switching and existing mortgage is in non-bankrupt spouse
ask them [nicely] to refer to their underwriter if not getting accepted
have your finances under control, be able to demonstrate good understanding and planning
basically, banks want to loan, but they also don't want to get stiffed. If you can get an area sales manager, they will be able to sway things in your favour if you are genuine and don't present as much risk.

Its still unknown territory for them with post bankruptcy, UB and PTSB seem to be more open to the idea currently


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## Jane09 (19 Jul 2018)

Thank you Dauhee for your very detailed reply. 
Just a couple more questions. 

We are both with permanent tsb with my husbands wages going into it so should we keep it there then ? 

We are only out of bankruptcy so should we just not make any appointments for 12 months ?

Should we put our consistent monthly savings into ptsb also in the hope they give us a mortgage down the line ? 

Will we need to save 10% or 20% deposit ? 

Should we start getting small loans out now or credit cards to build up our credit rating or does it not work that way in Ireland as we don’t have a credit score system ? 

We are renting consistently for 7 years now paying 1450 rent so we have a good record there 


My husband was bankrupt with a house he owned with an ex who emigrated so it was our only way of breaking that contract as bank didn’t want to know. So it wasn’t for financial difficulty reasons. He could not sell it as it was in negative equity and ex didn’t want to cooperate  he also had a small loan out at time of going bankrupt. 

Thank you so much for your help


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## Dauhee (19 Jul 2018)

Hi Jane09,

You could certainly try before the 12 months with PTSB. If you get to the point PTSB will definitely not accept you, could then look to save with another bank and try them for a mortgage. There is no harm in politely checking in every so often. PTSB were sympathetic to my case, but I have periodic checkins with UB and BOI also, just to keep the relationship going. Sometimes they might say contact them again in 6 months, or when your finances are at a certain point. KBC said they would never do business with me, but then again different branch reps can give different answers.

With any bank, if they see the money coming in then that's good enough, if money is going out to separate savings account then that should be fine so I would say no need to change that.

You can request your ICB report online for a nominal fee (6Eur or something like that), while banks will be doing their own checks, at least you can highlight how good (apart from bankruptcy) the finances are.

Unfortunately because you are married, with the homeowners act, you need to make a joint application. Depends on how desperate you are for a mortgage - divorce could solve your problem 

yes loans and ccard do get listed on your ICB, but is pointless getting a 1k loan and paying it back as the value is listed also. They will be looking for longer term history.

I'd say you should aim for 20% deposit

Definitely meet sales managers from each bank and listen to what they have to say.

Beware of independent financial advisers as they may be more negative on options.

Best of luck


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## Jane09 (19 Jul 2018)

Thanks a million for your reply I really appreciate it. 
At least now I have a starting point. 
I just can’t wait to hear even from one person to say they got a mortgage just to even know it can be done  
Light at the end of the tunnel


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## Jane09 (24 Aug 2019)

Hi 
My husband bought a house with an ex girlfriend in 2006 and they emigrated in 2008. Husband came back 2 years later but ex stayed. They have two children. 
Ex has no interest in house and doesn’t want anything to do with it and wouldn’t deal with bank or sign sell etc. 
Husband Stopped paying mortgage in 2013 and they started repossession and then stopped it for reasons we do not know.
Husband tried coming to many agreements with bank but bank wouldn’t make any agreements without ex so had no choice and went bankrupt in July 2017 and came out July 2018. 
Ordered icb report and it came back with mortgage payments in arrears so contacted the bank and they said they will change it but didn’t and then contacted them again and said they don’t have to as it’s secured debt and not part of bankruptcy. 
So he got on to OA and they said it’s a secured debt until it’s sold. 
But how do force the bank to repossess ? 
As we were planning on waiting the 2 years after bankruptcy and going for a mortgage ourselves. But with the icb saying that we will never get a mortgage. 
Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. 
Just don’t know what to do. 
Thank you


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## TLO (27 Aug 2019)

You can't force the bank to repossess.  The best option would be for your husband to sell the house.  However, signatures from his ex would be needed.

A stalemate like this could go on for years.  A very cheeky move would be for your husband to move back into the house, along with you.  The house is still in his name, even though he is no longer responsible for the mortgage.  If you do this, your aim should be to save your rent money. with a view to improving your financial position, so that it becomes easier for you both to buy a house in time to come.  It might also encourage the bank to repossess once they realise that somebody is living there "for free".


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## Thirsty (28 Aug 2019)

If you don't want to move in to the property yourself, rent it out.


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## Bronte (28 Aug 2019)

Well bankrupty is supposed to mean you get on with your life. So if the property is just sitting there you might as well live in it or rent it.  If this gones on long enough you might have as much as the Ryans in saved rent and will be able to buy a property in cash !

Jane you should contact Jim Stafford (he's on here) and pay for his advice, he's very good.  Best of luck.


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## michaelg (28 Aug 2019)

Excuse my ignorance on this but I thought after bankruptcy the OA would own half the house,  and the husband is off the hook ?

How come he still ends up still owing the house after bankruptcy ?


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## TLO (30 Aug 2019)

Yes, the OA owns half of what can be thought of as the beneficial interest in the house.  But the OA's half is worth nothing as a result of the house being in negative equity.  So the OA isn't interested in the house and takes the view that it's up to the bank to sort out..  And for whatever reason, maybe the bank lost paperwork, the bank has done nothing.

Meanwhile the house sits there in the names of the husband and the ex.  The husband can't sell the house without the ex's signatures, which aren't forthcoming.   So the only way the house can be sold is if the bank goes to court and is successful in getting a repossession order.  

And until the bank gets a repossession order, which could be years away, the husband is entitled to move into the house.  It's in his name (and his ex's, who wants nothing to do with it.)


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## michaelg (30 Aug 2019)

Thanks TLO

So if i understand this right ...........

The husband no longer owes the mortgage or any money to the bank (as its been written off in his bankruptcy)

But the husbands name is still on the house (until the bank repossess )and therefore he can live and/or rent it out.

In years to come , if the house goes into positive equity and eventually repossessed , that positive equity may go to the EX and OA but not the husband ?

It seems a bit peculiar as i thought you loose everything in Bankruptcy and in this scenario he could potentially be making money on the house after bankruptcy.


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## TLO (30 Aug 2019)

michaelg said:


> The husband no longer owes the mortgage or any money to the bank (as its been written off in his bankruptcy)


Yes, that's correct.



michaelg said:


> But the husbands name is still on the house (until the bank repossess )and therefore he can live and/or rent it out.


Again correct.  He can move in to it.  Renting it out opens other obligations, tax returns, PRTB registration and so on.  Renting out might not be the best thing to do.  Also, the OA may look for half the rent.  And the bank may surface looking for the other half.



michaelg said:


> In years to come , if the house goes into positive equity and eventually repossessed , that positive equity may go to the EX and OA but not the husband ?


Great question.  As far as I know, the OA has 3 years in which to realise the husband's beneficial interest.  So if the house is repossessed and sold within 3 years then the husband's share of the positive equity goes to the OA.  After 3 years the husband could theoretically end up keeping his half of any positive equity.  The ex keeps her half of any positive equity regardless of when the house is sold.  With no payments being made on the mortgage it will probably be a very long time, if ever, that the house in question will move into positive equity.


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## michaelg (30 Aug 2019)

Many thanks,,,,, As far as i understand its very hard for a bank to repossess a house jointly owned when one of the joint owners is abroad.
They have to go to court and prove that they've tried to contact the emigrated person. this can take many years apparently and is an expensive process for the bank to go through.

Its a shame the husbands ICB report is still reflecting the missed mortgage payments, as his mortgage debt has effectively been cleared thru bankruptcy and he should be a clean slate.


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## elcato (30 Aug 2019)

How about writing a letter to the OA telling them you plan to move back in if it's not up for sale within a certain timeframe ? You could try this with the debt collection company. That might grab their attention.


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## Jane09 (30 Aug 2019)

Thank you all for your reply’s.

Update :- We got on to a nice guy in the bank who finally knew what he was talking about and he said the house is gone into receivership to be sold. They changed the locks about 6 weeks ago but my husband wasn’t contacted about any of this as they keep sending updates to the mortgaged house he does not live in.
So as it’s in receivership I would presume it overrides the fact it was a family home and doesn’t need to go to court. And will be sold soon fingers crossed.
It’s been a massive learning curve in the last couple of weeks. We genuinely thought the day we went bankrupt was when we were free from the ex to move on with our lives but not with secured debt.

So anyone reading this who goes or went bankrupt until your house is sold you still owe to the bank and the bank can chase after you for it.
Now you don’t have to pay it but it’s not the point. I think people Should be told this.
If they decided not to sell for 10 years there is nothing you can do about it.
Yeah we could have moved back in but we locked up that house 2 years ago and threw away the key and thought that part of our lives was over.
Our situation isn’t that we couldn’t afford to pay a mortgage it was the entrapment with an ex that didn’t even live in the country. We could pay mortgage for years and she could come home and move back in or if we wanted to upgrade or move we couldn’t etc.
and banks would not even entertain a conversation about taking her off it.
So we want to buy our own family home so it massively affected us.
Hope this helps some people.
Thanks again for taking time out to reply. Very much appreciated.


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## michaelg (31 Aug 2019)

Glad to hear its worked out for you,,,, good luck going forward.

I was under the impression that a bank cannot by law put a family home under receivership, but they must be able to if no-one is living there anymore.


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## Jane09 (1 Sep 2019)

michaelg said:


> Glad to hear its worked out for you,,,, good luck going forward.
> 
> I was under the impression that a bank cannot by law put a family home under receivership, but they must be able to if no-one is living there anymore.


Thank you. 
Yeah so was I under that impression but seemingly if your not living there it overrides it so happy days


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## Jane09 (27 Jul 2020)

Update 

Just to update anyone who was interested in this post. We are a year on and still no further. 
The receiver put the house up for sale and then took it down and now has it back up for sale.
 We have still not been contacted by anyone and no one seems to know anything when we contact the bank or receiver.
So as it stands we are 3 years post bankruptcy and still liable for the property that we are no longer allowed into as receiver took over this property a year ago and changed the locks.
So again if anyone knows of our rights on this I would appreciate any info 
Thank you x


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## Jane09 (7 Oct 2021)

Hi guys 
Just thought I’d update you all on my situation in case it helps anyone. We went bankrupt July 2017 with a previous house my husband had with his ex. 
We had terrible problems with the bank updating his icb and ccr. They wouldn’t update it until the house was sold (which is wrong ) and then when the house was finally sold they still wouldn’t update it. They kept saying he owed the shortfall. We had months of complaints to ombudsman and months of complaints to the bank which kept coming back with their generic letter of needing more time. And trying to tell us they don’t have to change it etc. 
We finally got on to the ccr and put a complaint in after months of research on our parts to highlight why they are reporting wrongly and impeding us with moving on with our lives so they were finally forced to update it. 
In the end the bank couldn’t update it so they removed him off completely so icb and ccr were wiped like he never had the mortgage. 
The banks can’t change the system and this was what the problem was all along. All to new to them. 
We were at mediation point with ombudsman so they wanted to close it but we said we had so much stress and time wasted over the past few years and want compensation so they went to the bank looking for some and we got rewarded 2500 for our stress and trouble. 
So we went straight to bank of Ireland for a mortgage and got one no problem. We told them all about our situation and it was no problem. 
If anyone has any questions I will try and answer them 
Thank you


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## Brendan Burgess (7 Oct 2021)

Jane09 said:


> We told them all about our situation and it was no problem.



Hi Jane

Well done!

So it wasn't really the CCR which was holding you back?

You told the bank that your husband was a discharged bankrupt but they lent to you anyway.

I get the impression that BoI is the most flexible in this regard.

Did they apply stricter than normal criteria? Could you fill us in on some of the numbers?

1) Cost of home
2) Amount of mortgage approved
3) Your combined gross salaries.

Finally, which was the original bank that made a mess of your CCR? 

Brendan


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## Jane09 (7 Oct 2021)

Brendan Burgess said:


> Hi Jane
> 
> Well done!
> 
> ...


Hi Brendan
Thank you 
It was the CCR And ICB being incorrectly reported to that held us up. 
BOI had no problem lending to us as long as we were 3 years out of bankruptcy. 
But as my husbands bank was reporting that he still owed the shortfall boi wouldn’t talk to us. 
Cost of home 520,000
Amount mortgage approved 416,000
Needed 20% deposit. 
Don’t want to say what our salaries are but we got 3 and a half times no exemptions. (We didn’t ask for one so not sure if we would have got one ) 
The BOI take it case by case. And asked us in detail why happened and why he could not pay his mortgage and asked for proof and back up of anything we had. So I don’t think they lend to anyone. 
The bank my husband had a mortgage with kept reporting that he owed the mortgage until house was sold and then reported he owed the shortfall even though they knew he went bankrupt. I think they had some internal problem with not being able to change it for some reason. They didn’t know how to undo the joint mortgage basically. So we done a lot of research to find legislations etc to point out what they should have known. 

Jane


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## Brendan Burgess (7 Oct 2021)

So normal second time buyer terms 

80% Loan to Value
3 1/2 times income. 

Brendan


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## Jane09 (7 Oct 2021)

Brendan Burgess said:


> So normal second time buyer terms
> 
> 80% Loan to Value
> 3 1/2 times income.
> ...


Yes and normal interest rates  no other bank would talk to us until we were 5 years out of bankruptcy. Basically when our ccr was clear. Which it is now but we are still only 4 years since bankrupt. Now I could lie and say He was never bankrupt but we don’t want to go down that road. 
Jane


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## time to plan (8 Oct 2021)

Great ending. 

In terms of BOI, I found them very flexible in different circumstances. They gave me a mortgage as a new proprietary director (daily rate contractor) with no annual accounts. We just painted the right picture with one of their mobile mortgage managers, who must be in commission and has the right relationships in the bank to make the case.

Brendan, maybe worth a thread in this. While the BOI interest rates / cash back combo is not the most favourable overall, they can be a good option for non standard cases.


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## Brendan Burgess (8 Oct 2021)

time to plan said:


> Brendan, maybe worth a thread in this.



How do you mean? 

I took a few of Jane's threads over the years and combined them? 

Feel free to start one along the lines of "How to get a mortgage if you are a discharged bankrupt" 

Brendan


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## time to plan (8 Oct 2021)

My comment was more about BOI as a good option for non standard cases than anything bankrupt specific. Just a thought.


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## Brendan Burgess (8 Oct 2021)

Good idea. Start a thread on it.

Brendan


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