Oncology nurse who fought the banks to keep her home is 'broke but happy'

Louise Walsh

An oncology nurse who has been fighting the banks for her home for four years in memory of her dad says she is now officially broke - but has never been happier after a court judgement made her legally insolvent.

Tracey Hanby Gray(44) from Navan, Co. Meath has now vowed to help anyone else in mortgage distress after the judgement which she says 'loosened the noose the banks put around my neck."

The mum of one was surviving on just €2,000 a year after struggling to service of mortgage of €400,000 and arrears of €70,000 on a house now worth €250,000

The ruling at Trim District Court against Bank of Ireland on July 30th means that she still has to pay the same mortgage amount of €1400 a month by herself until she is 65 years old but the market value of the home was decreased to €250,000 - so effectively wiped out her arrears debts.

"I had a marriage breakdown and all of a sudden, I was a deserted mortgage holder unable to pay the repayments on my own," she said.

"Bank of Ireland rejected any proposal I made and refused to communicate with me over the four years.

"At the start of it, my dad James Hanby told me to put my best foot forward and fight for my home - just weeks before he died - so I did it in his memory.

"I had to juggle money to even pay the reduced payment that my Personal Insolvency Practitioner (PIP) advised.

"Many a time the electricity went and I couldn't afford €7,000 for a new heating system so the house felt cold and damp at times.

"My daughter and I often sat under a duvet in the living room and went to bed early to keep warm during the winter. I've no shame in saying we have bought our clothes in charity shops too."

"That court case was like being stripped bare and having all my clothes thrown around the room. But thankfully I think I was given a fair judgement to return the value of the house to current market levels.

"For the next six years, I've to pay a portion of the mortgage to the Personal Insolvency Arrangement (PIA). I still have to pay the same mortgage until I'm 65 but thankfully the arrears have been wiped and the market value of the house decreased to €250,000

"After the case, myself and my daughter went to my dad's grave with flowers and I finally felt that I could say goodbye to him."

Despite all her own struggles, Tracey has managed to go to work with a smile on her face for patients in an oncology unit of a Dublin hospital and has spoken out from the picket line for nurse's rights and at a number of rallies for homelessness.

She says she has also been recently diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) due to her experience but views it as 'a new beginning.

"PTSD is something that will shape my new beginning. Hopefully I can learn to live with it but it must be said that sufferers have to deal with anxiety, panic attacks, addictions and depression. I'd like to see it as my battle scar that I have to look at every day and learn to accept and love."

Tracey has now vowed to be a voice for others who may find themselves in the same desperate circumstances and raise more awareness and education regarding the laws.

"I'm a highly educated nurse who has been working for the last 21 years and this situation has been so humiliating. I've chosen to speak out because I know I'm not alone and by talking, I might help reach even one other person who is also affected by this.

"I'm in a pensionable, permanent job and yet I had to fight blood, sweat and tears to keep a roof over my daughter's head.

"I'm a breadline nurse who has been on this insolvency journey since December 2016.

"I could've given in to the big boys but I didn't -and I implore those in a similar situation not to bury their head in the sand, not to run and not to hide.

"You can't do this alone, you really can't and if I can help anyone out there suffering by sharing my experiences and offering a listening ear, then I will gladly do so."

"I am Tracey Hanby Gray and I was almost homeless - but not anymore."

Bank of Ireland said it would not comment on individual cases