What happens when you can no longer afford to pay your mortgage?
Contents hideCalamity can strike any person. It could come in the form of being laid off at work, a failed contract or legal action if you are in business, or a personal issue like divorce, death or an accident. Whatever the case may be , home loans are secured facilities, and failure to meet your end of the bargain could result in a mortgagee sale.
But before the lender sells the property, they must notify the homeowner of the intended action through a Property Law Act Notice.
If you’ve just received a Property Law Act Notice, read on and find out what to expect next, as well as what action you can take.
Before the lender (mortgagee) takes any action to recover the loan, they must serve you with a Default Notice under Section 119 of the Property Law Act (2007). This notice gives the following details:
Lenders and banks often turn to mortgagee sale property as a last resort action. This is when the homeowner is unresponsive or uncooperative.
Usually, mortgage lenders and banks exhaust all possible means of recovery under the mortgage agreement before resorting to mortgagee sales. This may partly explain why there’s a slump in mortgagee sales.
Y ou have received the PLA Notice not just because you’ve persistently defaulted on the mortgage, but also because you have not reached to a workable solution with the lender.
The process of a mortgagee sale is a complex legal process with many technicalities. You may not be well-equipped to handle such negotiations. Get help from qualified professionals such as lawyers who have specialized in property law as well as experienced mortgage brokers.
If you’ve received the Default Notice, make an effort to contact the lender. Your objective will guide the kind of discussions you will have. Do you want to rescue the mortgage? Or you can no longer afford the mortgage payments, so you want to make the best from the situation.
Whatever the goal is, time is not on your side and you should reach out to the lender to seek an extension of the Notice date so that you have time to negotiate.
If you intend to save the home, ask the mortgage broker to help you work out a plan to refinance the mortgage and offset the demands on the Notice. On the other hand, if you don’t plan to keep the home, negotiate with the lender so that you may sell the property without the stigma and pressure of a mortgagee sale. You can ask your legal counsel to help you draft an agreement between you and the lender.
Whether you want to sell the property or rescue the mortgage, you must make commitments and strictly follow through on your promises.
Remember, if the bank mortgagee sells your property, it’s not a guarantee of the end of the loan. The main thing to remember is to seek advice from professionals and ensure you can create a solution that works for you and your family.
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The problem is that once you fall behind on your mortgage repayments, it can start to damage your credit history and ratings. So it can be a good idea to fix the problem before it gets worse. Do not wait, and call us right away.