Wow! Hall: We need legislation to accelerate repossessions of those who don't engage within three months

[Brendan Burgess]

Ciarán Hancock has a 40 minute podcast with David Hall here.

Inside Business with Ciarán Hancock

There is a lot of interesting stuff in it which I will comment on later, but this one bit is absolutely amazing. It starts at exactly 30 minutes into the Podcast. Update: I have extracted it to the attached MP3 file.


Hancock: What do you think should happen to those 27,000 in arrears over two years or more?

Hall: The following statement should prove my sincerity around the tsunami comment. If I was the banks or the government

• I would suspend all repossessions for a 12 month period
• I would compel all those persons to engage with MABS, a PIP, or ourselves and have financial statements, documents submitted within 6 months
• Then I would have the Insolvency Service adjudicate whether the offer made by the bank by the PIP or MABs or ourselves was reasonable.
• And if it’s not reasonable the home would be repossessed and if it was reasonable they accept the deal

Hancock: that would require a whole raft of legislation…

Hall: No – the only legislation we would need would be to accelerate the repossession time frame. The problem everyone has is with the people who don’t engage . I am not here to defend them or the people who can pay and wont’ pay. They are a different cohort.

What you do after 6 months is that you bring forward all those who want to engage.

[ stuff about a hearing in Portarllington]

Hancock: For people who are engaging it must be a traumatic experience , but what about the thousands who are not engaging? These are deliberate actions…

Hall: Listen to me clearly. You pass legislation. You set out the criteria to engage. If you don’t engage after three months you do what they do in the UK. Repossession. You need legislation for accelerated repossession. Anyone who is messing... (doesn't finish the sentence)

 

[Brendan Burgess]

A related bit.

Hall:" Where are the 27,000 in over two years in arrears?

MABS has 1,400 of them.
The PIPs have 1,000
The IMHO has 2,636"

OK, there are 23,000 borrowers in over two years arrears - not 27,000 as this figure represents accounts.

So the debt advisors he named have 5,000 of them. Phoenix, and other groups probably have 2,000.

So there are around 16,000 who have not gone anywhere for advice.

Many of these are engaging with the lender and don't need to take professional advice yet.

But a good proportion of them are irresponsible borrowers who are neither engaging nor paying anything.

And I agree with David. The system should be changed to accelerate the repossession of these borrowers.

Brendan