I'm in arrears with a property in Portugal and cannot keep repayments. I told them to take the keys back. They said no and will pursue me for the money in Ireland by getting a Judgement. Can they get a Judgement on my property (morgaged) here in Ireland ? What can they do to me here ? Any advice on how I should proceed, Thanks.
Portugal property arrears - can they get my Irish home?
- Thread starter lipton
- Start date
I was on Interest only but has now come to an end. They want us to now start repaying the principal. I have mentioned about spreading payments over 25yrs. There needs to be further discussion and consultation although I get the impression they don't want to negotiate a longer payment schedule. To be honest, I found it hard enough paying interest only on Portugal apartment and making full repayments on house in Ireland. I can't afford to pay any kind of restructured morgage in Portugal. I wish to focus on keeping payments on house in Ireland. I told them I just wanted to hand back the keys. They said they would chase my assets in Ireland for the money there owed. I just want to know how they can come after my home in Ireland if it's morgaged to a different bank?
I think that they might be able to register a second debt against your property. Whether they can then force a sale I am not sure. If this were to happen your mortgage provider would get paid their mortgage and then they pick up what's left over. Are both properties in same names? Do you have children?
Is there any point in trying to sell your property in Portugal at this stage?
Is there any point in trying to sell your property in Portugal at this stage?
How do you know you've no available income? A bank might see it differently. Though I must say from a banks point of view a taxi driver's income would be hard to pin down.
Of course they can go after your Irish home. They just apply to put a Judgement mortgage on it. And after that they could apply for a well charging order to get the house sold. In that circumstance they will be paid after your Irish mortage company.
Do you not think it would be better to come to some kind of arrangement wtih the Portuguese bank.
Please post up figures if you want more concrete advice. For example if you really do not have any excess income and if the equity is very low - these would be important things to tell us.
Hi Lipton, do you currently rent the property in Portugal to at least try offset some of the cost of the mortgage if you cannot earn all the income to cover the mortgage. I have a property on the algarve and I part-fund the mortgage with a portuguese bank through short term holidaymaker rentals. It would also help in dealing with the bank to show you are making the effort to provide some repayments. I approached my bank in portugal last year and they were not helpful when I asked for another Interest only period as they would have applied a much higher interest rate on me. I would definitely seek advice locally in Portugal on your predicament.
Quite simply they will get a judgment against you and seek to have a judgment mortgage attached to your Irish property.
The judgment mortgage will rank 2nd behind the Irish mortgage.In the event that your home is sold and there is some equity remaining after the 1st mortgage has been discharged, then the Portuguese bank will be paid next.
The judgment mortgage will rank 2nd behind the Irish mortgage.In the event that your home is sold and there is some equity remaining after the 1st mortgage has been discharged, then the Portuguese bank will be paid next.
Is this actually happening ? Are they getting Judgements against attached to Irish properties. We gave no security ! We are never going to sell our home in Ireland so it's really irrelevant. It will be passed onto our children when we die. In this case, what is the worst they can do ? Destroy our credit rating ? Put a judgement against our earnings ?
The figures don't matter as I haven't the money to pay. Forget about any restructured payments etc. The point is I'm at the end of the road. We're all out of options. What I'm asking is how bad the end result is going to be. My mortgage in Ireland will not be repaid for another 20 years. Will the the secondary judgement still be active in 20 years time ? I'm not looking for advice on figures. I'm wondering what the end result will be. Have you experience or know people who have had a judgement put on their property by an overseas bank ?
The world is a much smaller place than it used to be. It's not difficult for a foreign bank to get a foreign judgment registered against your home in Ireland. It really is a trade off for them of legal cost Vs amount of money owing Vs amount of equity in your home.
In short they can do it and will do it if the amounts in question are large and if they believe that they have a good chance of recovering the debt withing the twelve year window.
They have to make a call on it. Two different banks might make two different calls on it.
You are right that it is more unlikely that they will take this action but it is possible and they may or may not seek to do it. Nobody can tell you categorically that they they will or wont take this action.
In short they can do it and will do it if the amounts in question are large and if they believe that they have a good chance of recovering the debt withing the twelve year window.
They have to make a call on it. Two different banks might make two different calls on it.
You are right that it is more unlikely that they will take this action but it is possible and they may or may not seek to do it. Nobody can tell you categorically that they they will or wont take this action.
They can apply to an Irish court I assume. But you've now told us you've 20 years left on your mortgage so I'm guessing there is very little equity (figures from you would be helpful) and they will not waste time on the legal fees of going for a judgment.
It would be in your best interest to prove to them that there is no 'value' in your Irish property and that you are on a low income. It might make them go away.
Brendan Burgess
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Hang on a second here.
If you are paying off capital on your Irish home, then you must have some cash available to pay off capital. Have you asked your Irish lender to reschedule so that you can pay some capital off your mortgage in Portugal?
Have you considered selling your Irish home to repay your Portuguese debts? I am not recommending this, but you must consider all options.
You should provide the full figures to get proper advice.
Value of both properties.
Amount of each mortgage.
Interest rates.
Income
etc.
We have 300,000 remaining on Primary residence in Ireland. We are at the pin of our collar trying to make these repayments. We have 140,000 remaining on our mortgage in Portugal. Wewere on interest only for the past 5 years. They now want principal but we don't have the money to pay anything. The rental income comes nowhere near meeting the principal repayments needed. The rental income didn't even cover the interest only payments on the property in Portugal. We are making full repayments on property in Ireland but just about. We couldn't even really mange the interest only in portugal. We cut or medical insurance policy just to cover the shortfall in Portugal that when the rental income didn't cover the interest only payment. We have nothing to give or remorgage on our own home. We might if very very lucky get 400,000- 500,000 on our own home but we do not want to sell. What would we the big deal if they did get a judgement against us in Ireland ? Could they get a judgement on our earnings / Any advicewould be greatly appreciated ?
Realistically with the market as it is we might get 300,000 or 350,000. Our mortgage is 300k. Debt in portugal is 140,000. So we're still left with debt of 90,000 minus a roof over head for us and our kids. I'd love to believe its worth 400-500k but objectively we're never going to get that for it.