# Mortgage arrears



## tobie21 (23 Aug 2007)

I loast my job 18 months ago the company folded no redundancy my morgage is €1008 a month over the course of the 18 months i paid as much as i could but have ended up with arrears of €6300. I started renting a vehicle and got a license and started back working 5 weeks ago. i contacted the mortgage company and said i would start paying €300 per week and then when i goot on my feet i would increase it. first 3 weeks no problem then the van brokedown had to get it fixed missed that week paid the last 2 weeks. mortgage company rang me to say that because i missed that week the need at least €3000 euro in two weeks or they will reposses house in 21 days. Mortgage that i owe is €150000 house is value of €600000 have had mortgage total 7 years. This is a very embarresing situation to be in so any constructive advice would be very helpful.


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## ClubMan (23 Aug 2007)

Have you tried contacting MABS for advice?


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## Towger (23 Aug 2007)

Well it is very hard to reposses houses in Ireland, they have to go to the courts first.
See :

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=43093&highlight=reposses


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## CCOVICH (23 Aug 2007)

Who is the mortgage lender?


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## tobie21 (23 Aug 2007)

The mortgage lender is P TSB i spoke to them when they rang me and I said I would continue to pay the €300 a week and any week i could afford it I would up it to €500 the girls response was that this was not good enough and thet she would only allow me two weeks to pay at least €3000.


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## bacchus (23 Aug 2007)

Look at the positive side. You have €450k equity in your house, so things are not that bad in context. 
Still an option for you to sale your house and make a good use of that money until things get better. Many people would not have that option as they have almost no equity. or have build negative equity.


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## tobie21 (23 Aug 2007)

I know I have the option to move but it is one road I dont want to go down if i continue to pay the mortgage each mont and an extra €600 a month off the arrears if it went to court would they reposses or would they take into considerartion that i am trying. the impression i got from the girl the other day in her words that if the €3000 was not paid within two weeks i wqould have 21 days to vacate the property and hand it back


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## ClubMan (23 Aug 2007)

tobie21 said:


> if i continue to pay the mortgage each mont and an extra €600 a month off the arrears if it went to court would they reposses or would they take into considerartion that i am trying.


As far as I know ... courts will generally give a lot of weight to the fact that borrowers in your position have come clean with the lender and attempted to come to some arrangement within their means. And will take a dim view of lenders trying to force a repossession in such circumstances.


> the impression i got from the girl the other day in her words that if the €3000 was not paid within two weeks i wqould have 21 days to vacate the property and hand it back


 They cannot do this without going to court as far as I know and that could take a lot longer than 21 days.

Have you considered my earlier suggestion?

When did you first get into arrears? What did you do? When did you first make contact with the lender (or they with you) about problems meeting the repayments?


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## tobie21 (23 Aug 2007)

it started eighteen months ago i contacted tem and let them know i had been let go i was getting 350 a month mortgage relief of the social welfare that was all after the first couple of months with the delay in setting this up there was about four grand in arrears although there was no reduncy as such when my employer sold off the land etc he gave me €4500 which i gave straight to the bank and this brought things back square but over the remaining months the rest of the arrears were incurred, someone told only recently that one option i had was to have freeze my mortgage and only pay the interest when i asked the girl the other day about this she said i could have applied for this when the trouble started but it was not up to the bank to advise me on such options


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## gotsomenow (23 Aug 2007)

Sometimes it's better to meet face to face in these situations.  Write out a plan of repayment and go and meet someone from PTSB, there is no way they should/will take the house off you when you have all intentions of paying back the money owed.  You're the customer and they should accommodate you when you are making the effort.

G


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## pc7 (23 Aug 2007)

agree with the above arrange to meet them face to face (manager) the person you spoke is probably ticking boxes! you've been paying on time for 7 years. also do what clubman said and contact MABS they are there for situations just like this.


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## GarBow (23 Aug 2007)

You have 450,000eu equity in your home? You owe PTSB 6300?

Get a secured loan, pay PTSB. 

Back to work and end of problems.

I'm sure there's enough lenders out there that would see no problems in lending you that amount secured against the guts of half a million.


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## Carpenter (23 Aug 2007)

Would it be an idea to write to the bank, outlining the history of this case, your attempts to repay thre mortgage to date etc before requesting a formal meeting with the branch manager to discuss your case in detail?  I'd imagine it would be important to have all the information you've shared here on the record (in writing) to the bank in question, so that in the event of any legal proceedings you will have a proper paper trail to illustrate your attempt to deal with your present financial difficulties.


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## moondance (23 Aug 2007)

It probably wouldn't do any harm to contact your solicitor and they might be able to talk to the bank for you.


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## Thrifty (24 Aug 2007)

Why not go to MABS where they will help you come up with a plan, explain the legal side of things and negotiate with the creditor on your behalf. Check out what fees and interest you are paying on the arrears, this could be adding alot to your arrears and you may be able to get them to freeze/ reduce these.


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## Thirsty (24 Aug 2007)

> i could have applied for this when the trouble started but it was not up to the bank to advise me on such options


I'd give 'em hell for that one first off...how on earth are you supposed to know all the possible choices available?

They are trying to play hard ball with the 'pay up or else' attitude, get the money in and get the debt cleared is their job and they will take whatever stance works to make that happen.

The actual amount owed is quite small when you think about it - you could pay more for a car.    Iif you find them difficult to deal with, using MABS is a good choice.


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## pc7 (24 Aug 2007)

OP have you contacted MABS yet? its been suggested all through post really feel they'll help you out


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## TheBlock (24 Aug 2007)

Hi OP. When you eventually get back on your feet as you will. I'd seriously consider moving your business to a bank that will not treat you in such a shoddy manner.


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## Bank Manager (24 Aug 2007)

Approach seems harsh, in summary as I see it....

a) you've paid mortage for c. five and half years - no repayment issues

b) lost job (income) 18 months ago - no redundancy available

c) looks like you paid c. E12k of E18k repayments due since loss of job (which proves every good intention to repay on your behalf)

d) Arrears now at level of E6.3k.

From what I'm reading it looks like you intend to 'overpay' on a monthly basis to catch up on arrears - am I correct?

I'd suggest one of two approaches - either of which will entail sitting down face to face with manager/mortgage advisor....

i) seek to repay interest only repayment on mortgage and deal with arrears over a specified period or

ii) revert to paying mortage of E1k per month and offer to pay say E100 extra per month until arrears are cleared

With either option make sure it's realistic from your point of view - no point in offering to make repayments that you know in your heart and soul you won't be able to make.  Also leave yourself a bit of room for the odd lorry breakdown etc etc.

A third option would be to capitalise the arrears, i.e. take the full outstanding balance and negotiate a term say 25/30 years to repay in full - they might be less likely to run with this option, but it might be worth exploring. 

Hope that helps and everything works out for you.

Regards,


BM


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## MandaC (26 Aug 2007)

I would thoroughly recommend you contact MABS as a priority and they will arrange to contact the Bank on your behalf setting out a clear repayment structure that will not cripple you.

As someone who worked in debt collection previously, the courts will take a dim view of a creditor who has not made a realistic effort to get the debt paid off without resorting to the court. 

It is most unrealistic for them to expect you to magic up €3K "or else" in two weeks or get out and I would certainly not entertain this type of bullying behaviour.

Work out a clear repayment structure, do not over extend yourself - paying €300 per week on top of the ongoing mortgage is just too much, you will fall flat and it will look like you are breaking the agreement. Something like €100 per month is more achievable, and if you do get extra money you can pay it off when you have it instead of feeling the pressure to have to come up with it.

Is it possible to extend the life of the mortgage while you get back on your feet. You are paying €1008 per month on €150K. My repayments are lower than this for €170K over 25 years with NIB. 

From my debt collection years, I hate to see people getting away with not paying (and believe me those who know the system do), and I hate to see genuine people being bullied when they want to resolve matters.

Good luck with it.


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## Raskolnikov (28 Aug 2007)

TheBlock said:


> Hi OP. When you eventually get back on your feet as you will. I'd seriously consider moving your business to a bank that will not treat you in such a shoddy manner.


It shouldn't surprise you that banks can be so unscrupulous. My mother used to work for one of the bigger Irish banks and echoed a similar sentiment.

If you've bought recently and had little equity in your home, banks will do all in their power to prevent repossession proceedings. However, if you have a bit of equity in your home (like the original poster), banks will be far more eager to repossess.

Disclaimer, I'm sure this isn't representative of all branches.


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## Madangan (30 Aug 2007)

Hi OP

I would repeat the comments of others about MABS and meeting bank manager face to face. Also who ever in PTSB trained the people you spoke to should be shot .It is totally unacceptable that a representative of a financial institution should misrepresent the facts to you or any customer in that way. It simply,as others have pointe out, not that easy or quick to get an order for repossession in the Irish courts particularly where the defaulter(i.e you) have behaved in a responsible way and has significant equity.

If I were you I would ask to meet with the manager, put your proposals to him,advise him how disappointed you are in his Bank for their aggressive nature and their misrepresentations and make it clear that while you want to get back on an even keel with them and restore good relations etc... that you are quite prepared if they do not accept your reasonable proposals to put those proposals firstly in writing and secondly,should they choose this option, before the Court.In other words it is no harm for the bank to realise that you are not easily intimidated and that you know how the courts system works. I would also consider a complaint to the Ombudsman for financial institutions. This may seem over the top when after all you are in default but IMHO Banks cannot be allowed to start behaving like illegal moneylenders with bullyboy tactics. What next will they be sending employees to your house with baseball bats emblazoned with the PTSB logo. Its shoddy bank practice and they should be disciplined.


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## Howitzer (30 Aug 2007)

Raskolnikov said:


> If you've bought recently and had little equity in your home, banks will do all in their power to prevent repossession proceedings. However, if you have a bit of equity in your home (like the original poster), banks will be far more eager to repossess.
> 
> Disclaimer, I'm sure this isn't representative of all branches.


 
This is also my understanding of standard banking practices. It's simply a better business model.


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## lizeey (2 Oct 2007)

tobie21 said:


> I loast my job 18 months ago the company folded no redundancy my morgage is €1008 a month over the course of the 18 months i paid as much as i could but have ended up with arrears of €6300. I started renting a vehicle and got a license and started back working 5 weeks ago. i contacted the mortgage company and said i would start paying €300 per week and then when i goot on my feet i would increase it. first 3 weeks no problem then the van brokedown had to get it fixed missed that week paid the last 2 weeks. mortgage company rang me to say that because i missed that week the need at least €3000 euro in two weeks or they will reposses house in 21 days. Mortgage that i owe is €150000 house is value of €600000 have had mortgage total 7 years. This is a very embarresing situation to be in so any constructive advice would be very helpful.


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## lizeey (2 Oct 2007)

hello.i dont think you have much to woory about ,and you should stop letting those bullies stress you out .they may treatin you ,but there is now judge in the land that will repossese a house when he knows what an effort the home owner is making to try rectify the problem .i am in a simular position myself, and have gotten advice.and it is as follows... if you try your best to make your basic morgage repayments thatsd gud,and no matter how small amount you want to pay off your arrears it is enough for any judge to say you are making an effort


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