Banks ‘only dealing with easy arrears options’

The latest monthly mortgage arrears figures show the six main banks are still only dealing with the “easy options” and do not indicate how many houses were either sold voluntarily or repossessed, according to the Irish Mortgage Holders’ Organisation (IMHO).

David Hall of the IMHO said the Department of Finance figures showed of the 116,481 households in arrears, 80,487 were more than 90 days behind, a drop of just 367. However, he said there were no details of the 57,000 in arrears more than one and two years and he feared the 14,509 who have opted for term extensions were mostly younger households.

He also warned there is no information on whether the 13,619 who opted for ‘arrears capitalisation’ solution had actually addressed the reasons why they went into arrears in the first place. “These banks are just lobbing the arrears on top of the mortgage but we have no idea whether these householders’ financial problems have been properly assessed.”