MORTGAGE RATE INCREASE WILL LEAD TO MORE FAMILIES IN ARREARS
Issued : Friday 21 January, 2011
“The suggestion in recent days of a further increase in mortage interest rate is driving fear in the hearts of many families across this constituency, some of which are barely hanging on by their fingernails at present” claimed Marie Moloney, Labour Party Candidate for the forthcoming general election.
An interest increase would not just affect those currently in difficulty and who have lost their jobs, but also many in employment both in the private and public sector who have seen significant reductions in their salaries again this month and who are already under financial difficulty in meeting their monthly payments.
“This Fianna Fail government has no problem dancing to the tune of the banks when they are in crisis, but when ordinary people are facing difficulty in making mortgage repayments, the response is pathetic” said Councillor Moloney.
Families are now desperately looking for solutions, but this Government is failing them.
“I have been meeting people at the doors who have been telling me they live with constant fear and worry about whether or not they will be able to meet their mortgage repayment and if they will be able to keep a roof over their heads” said Cllr Moloney
“The ordinary people living across the length and breadth of this constituency are are being forced to pay back on loans to bailout banks who participated in reckless lending and all the while these hardworking people are struggling to meet their own loans”
Labour in Government will seek to put in place a range of radical proposals that will provide some relief and which will reduce the chances of people ending up in serious arrears, and the Party will be publishing details in this regard in the coming weeks.
Among our proposals is a plan to introduce legislation to establish a Personal Debt Management Agency to provide impartial advice to those in arrears, conduct independent assessments of the distressed borrowers’ repayment capacity, and negotiate mortgage and personal debt repayment plans between distressed borrowers and credit institutions.
We will also introduce legislation to underpin the Financial Regulators' (2010) Code of Conduct on Mortgage for arrears and repossession, and will introduce far-reaching reforms to Mortgage Interest Supplement scheme, so that in certain cases, those in full time employment will qualify for some support.
