Skip to main content

Repossession Of Homes

Pressure on State to stop repossession of homes...


There is a "substantial" number of new mortgage holders who should never have been approved for the amount of money they borrowed and repossession orders should not be granted to their lenders, proposals to Finance Minister Brian Lenihan and the Oireachtas committee have urged.

A group, whose aim is finding a way to assist thousands of families who face the "very real threat" of losing their homes because of mortgage arrears, said the terms of loans should be amended to what the borrower can afford.

The Prevention of Family Home Repossession Group has made submissions to Mr Lenihan and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance and Public Service on a variety of measures to deal with the problem.

They have also warned that many families will find themselves in a poverty trap with a deteriorating economy, spiralling unemployment and the prospect of interest rate rises.

"This has the potential to lead to catastrophic social difficulties throughout Ireland which would cost society and our nation dear," the group, which comprises Senator Marc MacSharry, businessman Ignatius Beglane, general manager of Sligo Credit Union Barry O'Flynn, accountant Cathal O'Donnell and solicitor Dermot McDermot, said.

They point out that over 20 per cent of households are already in arrears with an overdrawn bank account, credit card balance, mortgages, rent or arrears on other bills, with mortgage arrears being the most prevalent.

And they said although the European Central Bank indicated that key interest rates will remain unchanged well into 2010, it seemed certain that mortgage holders in Ireland will see an interest rate rise as banks and building societies seek to increase their margins to boost profits.

The group believes that the repossession of a family home due to mortgage arrears should not be allowed without a detailed independent analysis of repayment capacity, an examination of the quality of the mortgage application and consideration of a range of alternative actions.

They have recommended a range of options: Interest-only payments not exceeding four years; permanently extending the mortgage period without penalty; renting the property back from the lender, giving him an income from the house; giving mortgage holders breathing space to clear debts; fixed rates -- addressing a problem debt at a lower current rate, and redrafting mortgage terms to what the borrower can afford.

They stressed that an order for repossession should not be granted until the court is satisfied that the loan was properly granted and that analysis of the capacity of the borrower to repay had been carried out, and that there should be an independent analysis of the current position of the borrower to repay the debt.


Report by Don Lavery - Sunday Independent.

Popular posts from this blog

Ireland's Celtic Tiger Excesses...

'Bang twins' may never get to run a business again... POST-boom Ireland is awash with cautionary tales of Celtic Tiger excesses, as a rattle around the carcasses of fallen property developers and entrepreneurs will show. Few can compete with the so-called Bang twins for youth, glamour and tasteful extravagance. Simon and Christian Stokes, the 35-year-old identical twins behind Bang Cafe and exclusive private members club, Residence, saw their entire business go bust with debts of €9m, €3m of which is owed to the tax man. The debt may be in the ha'penny place compared with the eye-watering billions owed by some of their former customers. But their fall has been arguably steeper and more damning than some of the country's richest tycoons. Last week, further humiliation was heaped on them with revelations that even as their businesses were going under, the twins spent €146,000 of company money in 18 months on designer shopping sprees, five star holidays and sumptu

I fear a very different kind of property crash

While 80% of people over 40 own their own home just a third of adults under 40 do. This is disastrous for social solidarity and cohesion Changing this system of policymaking requires a government to act in a way that may be uncomfortable for some. Governments have a horizon of no more than five years, and the housing issue requires long-term planning. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform was intended to tackle some of these problems. According to its website its remit is to “drive the delivery of better public services, living standards and infrastructure for the people of Ireland by enhancing governance, building capacity and delivering effectively”. So how is the challenge of delivering homes for people in 2024 and beyond going to be met? The extent of the problem is visible in the move by companies, including Ryanair, to buy properties to house staff. Ryanair has, justifiably, defended its right to do so. IPAV has long articulated its views on how to improve supply an

Property Tycoon's Dolce Vita Ends...

Tycoon's dolce vita ends as art seized... THE Dublin city sheriff has seized an art collection and other valuables from the Ailesbury Road home of fallen property developer Bernard McNamara. The collection will be sold to help pay his debts. The sheriff, Brendan Walsh, is believed to have moved against the property developer within the past fortnight, calling to his salubrious Dublin 4 home acting on a court order to seize anything of value from his home to reimburse his creditors. The sheriff is believed to have taken paintings from the family home along with a small number of other items. The development marks a new low for Mr McNamara, once one of Ireland's richest men but who now owes €1.5bn . The property developer and former county councillor from Clare turned the building firm founded by his father Michael into one of the biggest in Ireland. He is the highest-profile former tycoon to date to be targeted by bailiffs, signalling just how far some of Ireland's billionai