The problems of debt

The problems of debt


Áine Ryan

THE stresses and strains of this protracted economic recession are being played out on the national and international airwaves every day. The human toll is heartbreaking as the fat-cat bankers and the politicians who contributed to the dramatic downturn still lead their privileged lifestyles.
We put a series of questions to Monica Joyce, a Money Advice Coordinator with South Mayo MABS (Money Advice and Budgeting Service) and also The Mayo News talks to one man who has tried to be honourable and pay his debts as best he can but is getting no sympathy from his bank.

Money management
AR Are more and more people availing of MABS in Mayo?
MJ Yes the number of clients accessing our service here in Castlebar continues to grow. We cover all of the south Mayo area and offer an outreach service in Achill, Ballinrobe, Ballyhaunis, Claremorris, Kiltimagh, Louisburgh and Westport. The MABS service in Ballina covers north Mayo and provides a number of outreach locations too.
 
AR What is the profile of your service-users?
MJ Our experience shows that over-indebtedness affects all types of people, young and old, male and female, those living in rural and urban areas. However, of those clients who have presented to us in 2013, 67 per cent have mortgages,  65 per cent are in the 41-65 age group, 45 per cent are male, 55 per cent of the homes have children, and one third of them are in employment.  
 
AR Are the psychological strains becoming more evident?
MJ The level of consumer over-indebtedness and the uncertainty of the solutions on offer to-date to deal with this have increased the levels of stress particularly where the debt on the family home is an issue.
 
AR What tends to stress and upset people the most?
MJ In our experience being over-indebted almost always brings worry and stress. People feel that they have lost control of not only their finances but their lives. The prospect of the possible loss of the family home scares and terrifies them. It’s the helplessness and hopelessness and much of it brought about through no fault of their own.
 
AR Bottom line how can MABS help people improve their quality of life during this protracted recession?
MJ People can improve their quality of life by taking even small steps to address the financial circumstances they find themselves in. Doing out a budget is the basic task that individuals and families should undertake in devising a financial plan. MABS provides information on our website on budgeting and dealing with debt. Our latest helping hand at home planner is now available free of charge at the local library, post office, health centre, family resources centre, or by contacting South Mayo MABS directly. We also have a helpline 0761072000 or for those people who need more individual advice and support contact South Mayo MABS at Unit 14 Nephin Halls Hopkins Road Castlebar Co Mayo at 0761072670.
 
TREIBH – an alternative support group
TREIBH is an information and education network of like-minded people some of whom are dealing with debts they can no longer service. Established in 2011, it has no political affiliations and the network also supports anyone who may be undergoing other punitive actions of government against the people.
Basically, the members of the Treibh network share information and offer suggestions to one another by way of supporting members who are experiencing problems. They are also prepared to turn up in numbers to support people dealing with injustice on the ground, be it in the form of sheriffs/bailiffs on the doorstep, repossessions, distressed auctions.
They say they are ‘here to support the people who are carrying the can for the corporate takeover of this country’.

With mortgage debt a big problem nowadays we hear the story of a man in the Castlebar area who is struggling and under pressure from his bank

“My story is I started off in carpentry business after coming home from England in 1995. I started at the carpentry game, employed a few lads and everything was going very well until five years ago.
We ended up on a FÁS scheme. After three years it finished, only last May sometime, I still didn’t back down and went on a back to work scheme and all along I was paying the interest on the mortgage and trying to keep whatever bills I could pay in between.
We did a new financial statement a few weeks ago for the mortgage, a review, and they sent me back a letter earlier this month.
The letter [seen by The Mayo News] says: ‘based on your financial circumstances it would appear that your mortgage may no longer be sustainable’.
When I rang them they said the best thing for me to do is sell the house.
The original price of the house was €650,000 and if mortgage value is €400,000 and they look to sell it for €200,000 or €250,000, the most they’d get for it now, they’d still want to make an agreement with me to pay back the balance.
I said to them why on earth should I pay for something that I don’t have. I said there was no way the house was going up for sale and I wasn’t going to listen to their shit anymore and that the only thing I was going to do was continue on paying the mortgage as I have been doing. I don’t think there’s a court in the land that would give them possession of the house when I’m paying as much as I can.
The mortgage would be around the €1600-1700 mark. They’re getting €709 a month from me. There’s never been a problem until just now, no warning or nothing.
By the time I’ve everything paid, just to keep the very basics on the table I would have nothing left over at the end of the week, which I don’t. I haven’t been out socialising or cannot go to any family dos or weddings in the last four years.
Due to pressure I’m under, I’m getting into bad health. It’s just not on, for anyone who is trying but not getting anywhere. It looks like the harder you try, the more they try to put you down.
You’re after working hard all your life and doing everything that you thought was right and all the misleading and false information from the bank … They couldn’t give out enough of money at the time. If you asked them for €100,000, they’d give you €200,000.  
Between the banks and the government, they’ve basically f***ed up the country and you’ve the bankers such as SeΡnie Fitzpatrick and Drumm and all those and there’s nothing at all being done about all of them but they’re going to the ordinary five-eighths and trying to squeeze everything out of them between taxes, one thing and another and then they expect you to bend over backwards and try to pay for something that you just can’t do.”