consent to foreclosure

goodbyebank

Hi,

I own a property which I bought for about eu170,000. The property is mortgaged, and the balance of the loan still outstanding is about eu152,000.
I had to leave the country due to personal reasons. I kept up with the mortgage repayments until last month, but now I have realised I can no longer afford to repay the mortgage. I want to ask the bank to start foreclosure proceedings.
I am not planning to come back to Ireland, so I thought that, whatever the outcome of the foreclosure proceedings I will not be affected by their consequences.
If the bank were to sell the property in one year’s time or less, they will probably fetch about eu140,000 for it, which means (based on current Irish law) that I will be liable for the difference between balance of the loan outstanding and amount realised by the bank on the sale of the property, i.e. 152k minus 140k = 12k.
Have you any advice in relation to the above situation? Do you think the bank will pursue legally to recover the above amount? Please keep in mind that I will not be in the country.
My most important question follows below.
I still have some savings in an Irish bank account, which I keep in case I were to fall ill or for my retirement. Is there any chance that, at some point during the foreclosure proceedings, these savings might be frozen (by a court order or similar) and given to the bank to make good for the balance of the loan not realised on the sale (12k as explained above)?
I really, really appreciate your answers.
Thanks
GBB

Victor

They can pursue you for all assets.

There are also a large number of countries where they can get the judgement transferred to, certainly the entire EU - you won't be able to "hide" from the debt in the EU.

goodbyebank

Thanks. Can you expand a bit on your answer please?
I know they can pursue for all my assets. My question is on whether they will, not on whether they can. Will they bother pursuing international channels for just 10/15k? And say I hand them the key today, will a judge ever consent to them having access to my savings account? I doubt it. But if your answer is yes, how long will it be before a court order gives them access to my small savings account in Ireland? My view of the matter is that they will be able to recoup (from the sale) about 140/150 grand of the balance of the loan outstanding, thus leaving a loss on the loan of 5, maybe 10 k. Will they bother pursuing for such a small amount?

Ste.phen

you also need to take into account the fact that they'll bill you for their costs associated with cleaning up your mess (court time if needed, estate agency fees, admin costs, solicitors fees) and i suspect they dont shop around for your benefit

halkar

Bank may sell it for far less than the market value and you may end up with larger balance than 10-20k. You should try selling your property yourself and make arrangement with the bank for the balance.