Family goes hungry to meet bank repayments

The plight of a Navan family who went hungry as they struggled to meet rescheduled mortgage payments has been highlighted by Cllr Tommy Reilly who claimed that banks were now pursuing the most vulnerable.
“The people who owe millions are getting off, but the banks are now pursuing the small fry,” said Cllr Reilly.
“I have been dealing with a Navan family, whose mortgage repayments had been €1,100 a month. Like many other families when the crash came, they ran into difficulties and came to an arrangement to pay €600 a month to the bank.
“These people had four children and they really, really struggled. They went hungry to make these repayments,” he claimed.
The Fianna Fail Navan councillor said that, after a year, the bank looked for more and started debiting the couple’s account for €800 a month.
“This left them with no money for food at all and they just had to go in and cancel the direct debit. And now the bank is looking for their house,” he added.
“They are not the only people in this position. An awful lot of people have been on to me in the past six months and it has really intensified in the past three months.”
Cllr Reilly said the couple in question had been left in their home paying the absolute maximum they could afford until prices started rising.
“I am very angry at the way the banks are treating peope,” Cllr Reilly said.
He said he has been in contact with the Phoenix Project, a charity which helps families all over the country who are in danger of losing their homes and hopes to persuade them to open an office in Navan.