not able to afford mortgage my options

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aquaceri

Registered User
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Hi there,

I am at the end of my thether at the moment, I bought my house last year after saving for a year every penny I had, handing back a council house and my lone parents and going back to full time employment.

At the time we werent in recession and I felt so proud of myself for doing the "right thing" and trying to better my life for myself and my children.

I come out with 497e per week and i get 120e per week maintance from my childrens father.

My mortgage repayments cost me 306e per week and other out goings to the amout of 250per week, my childcare costs me the guts of 100e per week.

I am trying so hard to make ends meet but no matter how many budgets i draw up and how much I cut back on spending, I bring my lunch to work, I dont go out to socialise and I dont buy anything I dont need but I am still crippled every week.

Now I have been informed that my hours may be cut in half within the coming weeks.

I contacted my mortgage company to ask about a payment holiday and they told me to fill out a budget with details of my incomings and outgoings and they would see what they could do....I waited about a week and then they informed me that there was nothing they could do and I would just have to let my mortgage go into arrears! Interest only wouldnt help me as I am paying mostly interest anyway and to break out of my fixed rate they offered to lend me 20k to give back to them to break me out! ! ! :( :(

So I am in arrears of one month now and they told me i had to pay an extra hundred per month to clear these arrears, so instead of helping me out by reducing my payments they have increased them to 1350 per month, my mortgage was due again today and I have only lodged 570 because it is all i have.

I am so stressed out that I am starting to lose my hair, I am not sleeping, and not able to concentrate on anything else.

I just dont know where else to turn for advice or help, Does anybody know what approach i should now take with mortgage company?
 
i am really sorry about what is going on with your life, it clearly is a very stressful situation. have you thought about downsizing or taking on a lodger to help you pay the mortgage?
 
Did they give you a mortgage costing over 50% of your income , or have things changed ?
 
Hi there,

yes i have thought about moving out further for a cheaper house but the way things are mine will now be so hard to sell and it has devalued by about 30k since I bought it which means I am in debt to the bank with 30k.

I dont even know if I would get another mortgage to buy another house now due the arrears on the mortgage.

I have tried to rent out a room but havent had much luck as I have two young daughters in the house I have to be quiet picky about who I rent the room too and also it is hard to find somebody who is happy to rent in a house where there are young children....

it just feels like a lose lose situation at the moment :(
 
jhegarty said:
Did they give you a mortgage costing over 50% of your income , or have things changed ?
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No at the time I had a second job within the same company that was supplying me with an extra income of about 200e per week but with the recession kicking in they havent been able to supply me with this extra work since christmas time.
 
Hi Senni,

I wasnt sure that I could say but its EBS> very very unhelpful given the fact I contacted letting them know that this was going to happen and they told me "you will just have to let your mortgage fall into arrears"...also sent them a budget sheet with a weekly deficit of approx 120e!

thanks
 
Firstly, I'm sorry to hear about your situation.

It does not sound like you're in the position to cut your expenditure. This means the only realistic option open to you is to increase your incomings. Firstly, you might want to consider looking for a new/supplemental job?

I know it's easy for us to say, but don't let yourself get overly stressed. Remember, you're doing all you can to meet your obligations. If EBS decided to repossess, a judge will look upon you favourably if you have been proactive about your affairs (like you've been so far). Also, the worst-case scenario is that you'd lose the house and have to go back into council housing. Not pleasant, but no one will die, you'll have a roof over your heads and your children will still be fed.
aquaceri said:
I dont even know if I would get another mortgage to buy another house now due the arrears on the mortgage.
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Missing a mortgage payment will result in a black mark appearing on your ICB credit report. If you reapply for a mortgage, it's extremely unlikely you'll be approved again.
 
Cant speak for the EBS but I would think that their advice to let the mortgage go into arrears might be because it is easier to get some type of break if you are in arrears already. Speaking from the rules of another financial institution I know that mortgages that are up to date are not considered priority even if they are likely to go into arrears. All the budget planner stuff is needed to prioritise peoples needs as there a lot of people out there in trouble. If your mortgage is now in arrears approach EBS again with an offer to pay 'x' pm, whatever you think you can reasonably afford. Even if they reject that offer pay it anyway, a judge will find it very hard to side with them if you are making every effort to pay. I personally think there will be very few repossessions other than the subprime lenders for ordinary account holders as it is pointless at this stage to reposess a house, who do you sell it to? I also think that in the future if things ever get back to normal not having a perfect ICB will not be as bad as it is considered now because lots of people are in the same boat and a lot of them through no fault of their own. Loads of people overspent over the past few years but some didnt and they are still in trouble due to reduced income etc.

Do your best that is all that can be done in the present situation
 
wbbs said:
I also think that in the future if things ever get back to normal not having a perfect ICB will not be as bad as it is considered now because lots of people are in the same boat and a lot of them through no fault of their own.
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The vast majority of people will have perfect ICB scores. In terms of mortgages at least, only 3-4% of all outstanding mortgages are in arrears.
 
realistically you need to do 2 things

1) reduce your bills
2) reduce your expenditure


-Is it possible that you can get rid of your TV Bill and use FreeSat ?
-Is it possible to turn off your gas bill completely for next 2 months- while the summer is still here. When we are back in the winter months - only heat the rooms you use ?
-Can your ex or family help with minding the children 1 or 2 of the days ?
-Have you thought about growing your own veg in your back garden ?
-What about advertising some ironing or cleaning service in your local shops ?
-What about offering a childminding service on a Friday - Saturday night ?

There is never really an easy answer to this and most times the answers are not what you want to hear. Although the banks will accept whatever money you give them - it will make it hard for you to get any kind of loan in the future. Also, if you are only paying half the mortgage now - then it takes twice as long to clear it. So if your mortgage is for 30 years - then you could be possibly facing a 60 year mortgage.

All the stuff I have mentioned above about reducing exp and bills is something that you will have to think of innovative ways on how to make this real. You need a long term solution, not short term.


If it was me in your shoes the only bills I would have coming into the house would be the mortgage and the ESB. Everything else I would eliminate.
 
I agree with the other posters, I think you need to go into arrears and then the EBS will treat you as a priority case. It is not in their interest for you not to pay the mortgage.

Have you tried MABS for financial advice. They can help you negotiate with the bank. Is there any possibility the children's father can pay more maintenance. Could you try the St. Vincent de Paul for aid.

I hope you have someone to talk to, this is very important. There are a lot of people in your situation, talking to someone can help to relieve the stress. I wish you well.
 
You have been given some excellent advice. The one piece of advice i can give is ...

. Keep paying the same amount each month do not go below this figure, if its 600 or 700 or 550, whatever but you must not miss one payment ever... Pay secured loans first.Keep Paying,no matter what.
 
aquaceri, you have my sincere sympathies, you're in a hell of a situation. The only thing that you should do and you should do it immediately is get yourself down to your local TD's office, make sure it's an FF TD , not that we like FF TDs or anything, simply that they are in the best position to get things done. Bring your household budgets with you, and your bank statements etc. and land it in his/her lap and see what they suggest. That's what they're paid to do.

In fairness to most TDs as a constituent they will sympathise with your plight and they should be in a position to assist you in some way. They will have seen it all before and they will therefore know what you should do.

Best of luck with everything and it would be good if you could keep us updated on your situation from now on, as quite a number of us may not be too far behind you in dire economic straits.
 
Raskolnikov said:
I know it's easy for us to say, but don't let yourself get overly stressed. Remember, you're doing all you can to meet your obligations. If EBS decided to repossess, a judge will look upon you favourably if you have been proactive about your affairs (like you've been so far). Also, the worst-case scenario is that you'd lose the house and have to go back into council housing. Not pleasant, but no one will die, you'll have a roof over your heads and your children will still be fed.Missing a mortgage payment will result in a black mark appearing on your ICB credit report. If you reapply for a mortgage, it's extremely unlikely you'll be approved again.
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Please forgive me for my ignorace, may I ask what happens after repossession? Will the person still be liable to pay? If so how is this expected or what approach is followed? example will he be watched for some x years on how he is getting along? I'm not sure what exactly happens once the house is repossessed :-/

Say the court
 
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