I'm I being harsh? - Mortgage arrear couple

[quote:1bls6n1r]ONE young family dealing with the strain of mortgage arrears are afraid they might not be in their home next Christmas. Karen Moody and her husband, Jason, are struggling with their mortgage repayments and are worried their house will be repossessed within months. The couple, both aged 29 with three children -- Kian (7), Connor (3) and Jamie (1) -- are paying their mortgage company, GE Money, €600 to €800 a month in repayments, despite only receiving €390 in social welfare between them a week. "We sat down last night to discuss ways to make this Christmas special because it could be our last in our home. We are already €10,000 in arrears and that's only since April," Ms Moody said. The Moodys from Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan, initially had a €210,000 mortgage with Permanent TSB, but needed a top-up and moved to GE Money in April. Their mortgage increased to €225,000 with an interest rate of 6.7pc and repayments of €1,700 a month, including unpaid arrears. Mr Moody, who worked as a security man, was laid off work in May 2008, and since then, the couple have fallen behind in their repayments on their home. "It's really, really hard. We are making payments of €600 to €800 a month but they want €1,300 which is not possible for us to pay at the moment. "During the day I'm kept busy, but at night I get upset worrying about where we'll get the money from," she added. "I would like the Government to step in and try to help people," Ms Moody said. [/quote:1bls6n1r] Now, okay, am I being harsh here? I have a mate who works for a subprime lender. She says that they are agreeing payments of a quarter to a half of the original mortgage payment, as they just don't want to go through the cost and bad publicity associated with a house repossession. Secondly, they are regularly paying something towards their mortgage - the only people who get turfed out are those that are paying nothing at all, or offering to pay €100 a month. There's no way a court would allow their house to be repossessed. Also, it takes three years (incl the new six month moratorium) for a bank to repossess a house from the date of the first default. So they're not going to be out by next Christmas, that's just lazy and sensationalist reporting. Though it is from the Independant, so I shouldn't be surprised. And the last thing. When you take out a mortgage you take a risk. That throw of the dice has unfortunately fallen very badly for them, as they are both out of work. Sensibly, they can no longer afford their house. They won't be out on the streets, if they're paying €800 a month and living in Cavan, surely to God with rent allowance they'll be able to rent a two bedroom apartment or house? Why should my tax paid bail them out of a risk that went belly up for them? When it could go on ooh, I dunno, stemming the €400 million a week were borrowing to keep the country afloat?

So before the recession even began they moved mortgage from a reputable bank to a subprimer, and 6.7% interest WHY??? No wonder they are in trouble that was just stupid! Why did they re-mortgage in the first place? 1700 a month on a 225K mortgage is INSANE. If they had stayed with Permanent TSB, their mortgage would probably be around 1K now, which they could pay out of social welfare and have 56o left to live on. I know that's very little, BUT if you shopped in Penneys and Aldi you could just about make it work. The reason they are screwed is because they changed lender to a subprimer, NO other reason.

And if the husband lost his job in May 2008, why did they go and have another baby?

Well to be fair, she may have already been pregnant at the time.

[quote:1m0pfhy5]And if the husband lost his job in May 2008, why did they go and have another baby?[/quote:1m0pfhy5] The youngest is 1- so would have been born/conceived when the husband lost his job.

[quote="newkid30":32kdcqns]So before the recession even began they moved mortgage from a reputable bank to a subprimer, and 6.7% interest WHY??? [/quote:32kdcqns] And according to the article, they moved for 15k only!! Nearly doubling their repayments!! Do you know what though, lots of people just do not have a business head. I remember when I took out my mortgage going to all reputable banks and choosing the lowest interest rate - it took me about a month. But how many people do that or know to do that? I think celebrities are at fault too - like Linda Martin doing a happy clappy ad for Moneypenny to consolidate all your loans into this bigger loan at a high interest rate. Or Miley Byrne from Glenroe doing the one for older people to get money to give up your house when you die - I remember Eddie Hobbs doing his show with an older lady who wanted to do this and he actually worked out how much money she would lose and the company would make. My point is people belived celebrities and assume cos they're famous, you can trust them and the products they advertise.

I have to agree, if they put more energy into organising their finances, and not crying to the newspapers, they might get somewhere [quote:anvvd5uz]1700 a month on a 225K mortgage is INSANE[/quote:anvvd5uz] Dead right - my brother's paying that on a 325 000 mortgage !!

[quote="newkid30":3tkf7l6j]So before the recession even began they moved mortgage from a reputable bank to a subprimer, and 6.7% interest WHY??? No wonder they are in trouble that was just stupid! Why did they re-mortgage in the first place? 1700 a month on a 225K mortgage is INSANE. If they had stayed with Permanent TSB, their mortgage would probably be around 1K now, which they could pay out of social welfare and have 56o left to live on. I know that's very little, BUT if you shopped in Penneys and Aldi you could just about make it work. The reason they are screwed is because they changed lender to a subprimer, NO other reason.[/quote:3tkf7l6j] +1

Holy $hit, those repayments are extortionate! Our mortgage is less than €1k a month for €239,000.

Yes but what is the term of your mortages? we are paying 1100 a month for 150, but our term is only 15 years now