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Writing off remainder of mortgage?

  • 05-07-2016 8:49pm
    #1
    retro:electro
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,039 ✭✭✭✭


    Hi, not sure if this is the right forum for this, please move if it's not.
    I am writing on behalf of two elderly people, they are married, she is 67 and he is 70. They are both retired and are going through cancer treatment at the moment. They have about 6,000 left to pay on their mortgage, it's €500 a month so this brings them up to next April until it's paid off. They are both struggling financially and due to being sick they are finding it very hard to cope with the repayments. Is there anything out there that they could avail of that would help them pay it or maybe get it written off altogether?
    Thanks.


Comments

  • #2
    MarkAnthony
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,934 ✭✭✭MarkAnthony


    The good graces of the bank might be one place to start.


  • #3
    Thoie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,344 ✭✭✭Thoie


    A financial adviser would be the best place to start I think. I am not one, so my suggestions may be awful. As this is the internet, I'm sure a bunch of people will come along to tell us how awful very quickly.

    While €6,000 is a lot of money to two pensioners who aren't well, it's not a huge amount of money over all. What's causing them the stress - the thought of losing their home if they can't meet the repayments, or just the actual monthly amount? A possible solution would be to take out an unsecured personal loan for the €6,000, and use that to pay off the remainder of the mortgage. As an example, €6k over 3 years would cost just under €200 a month, which may be easier for them to manage. Note that in that case the €6k borrowed will eventually cost them €6.7k

    The second idea is to borrow the amount from family, with similar repayment amounts. If doing this, they should visit a solicitor and adjust their will accordingly to take into account the situation if they died before the loan was repaid.

    A third option would be to visit the local CWO to ask if they can help under the circumstances - it's unlikely that they can, but no harm in asking. If you're going down that road, make it as easy as possible for them to say yes - have bank statements for the mortgage, statements showing current expenditure and letters from doctors showing what treatment they're getting.

    Presumably they were managing the €500 a month fine up until their treatment started - what's causing the problem now? I'm guessing they were both retired, so their income hasn't changed. Do they have additional expenses now related to the treatment - e.g. taxis to the hospital? While the CWO may not be able to help with mortgage payments, they may have some discretion to help with the new expenses.

    The main thing is to talk to the bank before missing any payments (don't just ignore it). Work out in advance how much they can currently afford to pay each month, and at least pay something towards it every month as a show of good faith until you get something sorted out.


  • #4
    Pat Mustard
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,554 ✭✭✭Pat Mustard


    I will also mention MABS, who offer free advice.


  • #5
    4ensic15
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 4,691 ✭✭✭4ensic15


    Thoie wrote: »
    A possible solution would be to take out an unsecured personal loan for the €6,000, and use that to pay off the remainder of the mortgage. As an example, €6k over 3 years would cost just under €200 a month, which may be easier for them to manage. Note that in that case the €6k borrowed will eventually cost them €6.7k

    t.

    That would be lunacy. With 6K outstanding the annual interest can be no more than €300 per year. they could simply drop their repayment down to €200 and clear the loan in about 3 years. The bank is not going to initiate proceedings if the loan is being paid down and there is such a small amount remaining.


  • #6
    Indricotherium
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,575 ✭✭✭Indricotherium


    Downsize the house?


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  • #7
    coylemj
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,705 ✭✭✭✭coylemj


    Thoie wrote: »
    A possible solution would be to take out an unsecured personal loan for the €6,000, and use that to pay off the remainder of the mortgage.

    That is a crazy suggestion. For starters, who is going to give a couple aged 70 and 67 an unsecured loan to pay off another (secured) loan? And even if they got such a loan, it could only be from a loan shark who would charge them a punitive rate of interest compared to the current lender who's loan is secured on the house.

    I will give you credit in that at the start of your reply you said that someone would quickly come along to say how awful your suggestion was but you should have stopped right there before making a self-fulfilling terrible suggestion.

    FFS.... it's like advising someone...... 'I know nothing about finance but have you considered spending your entire weekly pension on Lotto tickets?'


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