its about time proper bankruptcy laws were put in place in ireland

I think they should come up with an agreement that the arrears should be added on at the end of the mortgage. I’m all for giving people a second chance but I don’t believe that the slate should be just wiped clean just like that. I don’t mean to be harsh but you can blame the banks all you want but they didn’t force people to take on mortgages they couldn’t afford. The homeowners have to take some responsibility for it. If you write off portions of loans people are unable to pay then everyone will be expecting it in the future. It will set a dangerous precedent.

I think AIB were very irresponsible to put debt-forgiveness on the table. How can they say they’ll have money left over from the bailout to do this. They either need the bailout money or they don’t. If they don’t they shouldn’t take it. It’s not free money, it’s taxpayers money.They know that if repossessed houses have to be sold for a lot less than their mortgages then they will lose money so they’re trying to put this loss onto the taxpayer instead. We need them to restructure and extend mortgages and to bring in proper bankruptcy legislation so that people can get out of the hole they’re in.

As the government has such a high ownership of the banks, forgiveness would be effectively a state payment to individuals. If this is done it should be fully transparent in terms of home ownership, I.e. The state would have a shared ownership with the original owner.

if one gets we should all get.i pay my mortgage every month and have to do without other things to make sure its paid.like so many others i just have my head above water and plodding along and like so many others i know people who have to have their holiday,new car and their nights out and put their mortgage last.so its about time i had some spare cash too

It’s bad enough that the debts created by miscreant bankers, developers and politicians are lumbered on tax payers. Debt forgiveness is not the answer as it merely transfers the burden of that debt on to others who are fortunate enough to be able to make their own repayments without taking on a percentage of the repayments of their insolvent neighbours. An American style walk away option is what is required, let the banks share in the moral hazard of lending.

This truly is a hard one. We built our own house 4 years ago and we built as much of it as we could afford at the time. Ok we have it liveable in and all that but we have not got it landscaped, have still to put in built in wardrobes, kerbing, more storage, louvre doors over the hotpress etc….but we will have to wait before we get these things because we do not have the money to do it yet. We could have got loans out to do everything and have the whole place 100% finished but we tried to be realistic and buy without our budget – that is why I feel so strongly about not having to contribute to paying off the debt of other people who wanted it all and wanted it without waiting !! We should all do what was done in days gone by, save if we need something and only get small loans which we know we can afford to pay back !! After all our health they say is our wealth. How many people are going to be in good health if they are stressed out completly trying to pay bills….

I am not an expert in these matters but I Am always wondering why the value of a property is based on the land its built, yet the prices of apartments were at such enormous prices…..I really think the Irish didnt cop this…and were ripped off….

I could understand it in extreme cases however any payment must result in an equity share for the state or a property swap to ensure those who took out unsustainable property loans don’t have their property bought for them by those who did not overextend themselves.
Debt forgiveness unfairly burdens those of us who did not behave recklessly, specifically those who chose not to purchase property . Debt forgiveness would mean that not only have I lost my profession to other peoples recklessness but I would be doubly penalised as I would be sharing the purchase of other people’s homes but without the benefit of owning a home myself at the end of all of this.

No – buying property is a risky investment and these are never guaranteed to be anything other than risky!

Lower interest rates NO more Bailouts simple

You got that right the bankruptcy laws are Medieval in Ireland

if the banks have been bailed out,doesnt that mean the loans they gave to mortgagees are paid? so why should they be paid a second time from homeowners?.are the mortgagees not the winners here also?why are the banks getting paid twice for the same loans?why dont the mortgagees pay their loan directly to the eu (interest free)….

There are three points that should be considered.
(a) firstly people in severe martgage debt are not spending in the real economy and so the Irish economy will take longer to recover and as such means longer austerity and higher taxes for all the population.
(b) Would it not be better to for the Irish people to help there own people, whatever the reason for their problems considering we are paying over €100 Billion in to private companies(the Banks and investors).
(c) If these people default on their mortgages and hand back their Keys the banks will then have a house worth considerbly less than what was mortgaged. This would mean the bank is in further problem and ultimatley mean a further bail out by all the Irish people.

If the Bank are taking a share of the house its not really debt forgiveness, per say. Rather it a type of re-mortgaging.

Ultimately I believe the new Government needs to pursue polices that encourage long term leasing and renting of houses. Home owner rates are too high in Ireland and as we have seen over investing in a volatile commodity like property is risky. The Govt need to do two things 1/ Put measures in place to help current distressed mortgage holders and 2/ Ensure that we are never in this situation again by help changing the culture of house ownership.

Realistic loans can and will be paid back !!!!!!!

Hyper inflated Fianna Fail Celtic Tiger Fairy Story Faceless Lying Corrupt Banker Government Ponzi Scheme Death Sentence Loans Can’t And Won’t Be Paid Back !!!!!

Since the government,and by implication we own the banks-why shouldn’t the owners of a business benefit from it .An easy option for state owned banks would be to put everbody on interest only loans for 2-3 year. The banks get the interest …money they require to pay off their loans to other banks ,we all get more money in our pockets and hopefully this will help to alleviate the situation people find themseklves but could also help kickstart the economy again.People power is the only way we will move forward because we cannot depend on the fatcat politicians who live in their cosseted fully fitted out goldfish bowls to do anything ! They are so out of touch with reality with their well paid job and their unreceipted expenses. Are they so stupid-if you put more money in peoples pockets then they can afford that little bit extra tax and continue to spend which is vital to the health of the economy

Easy solution would be to let those who cannot afford their mortgages is to hand back the keys of the house to the lender without having to incur whatever the remaining balance would be (like America).Any sort of tax relief,fixed interest solution or complete write off is only distorting the true level which property should fall to. And as these type of solutions would be coming indirectly from the taxpayer it will lead to more taxes causing mortgages taken out before the “boom” to become more distressed (starting to happen already).Is this not the most straight forward way or am i missing something here?

I didn’t even know that this was an option with some banks. I think I would have to do more research on this topic before I actually gave my opinion on it. Thus far I have been lucky enough only to require small personal loans. Hopefully I never find myself faced with this dilemma as a house owner. How often does this happen? How many banks are willing to “forgive” the debt?

Its time something gives, the current situation is untenable and only getting worse with every interest hike. As it stands the courts are clogged up from District to High court level with cases dealing with personal debt ranging from small personal loans to mortgage arrears. Indeed such is the state of affairs, the district courts have ceased to grant installment orders against anyone currently on social welfare. We have the ludicrous situation of personal judgments being granted against people who have not a hope in hell in repaying debts, there is even evidence high profile debt recovery agencies are going into receivership, its complete madness, people can’t pay debts, courts can’t enforce judgments and financial institutions can not recover debt, all the while arrears are growing, repossessions will increase and back to square one where the government will be forced to supply social housing. I suppose on the positive side there may be finally some use for these appalling ghost estates. I was never for Debt forgiveness but now i am beginning to wonder is there any other option. I would prefer Mortgage extensions and a fixed interest and repayment policy for all existing mortgages.

I think a percentage should be written off for all households, perhaps the difference between the boom price and now? Or a percentage of the difference, it wasn’t all the banks fault. This would release so many families to be able to start spending again in the domestic economy and help speed up the rate of growth and create jobs. Also a big reason a lot of people cant afford these pay cuts we need to bring our wages into line with Europe is mortgage repayments. Forgive some of the debt, reduce pay further (by a lesser percentage) and lets get Ireland working at a feasible level.

Everyones squeezing everyone trying to maintain wages, lifestyles, mortgage payments etc, we need to be realistic, some of these people will never be able pay back all of what they owe.