Walking away from a mortgage

lisyloo

which I really think will be such a waste for such a talented lad in his early 20's

It isn't the end of the world.
I'm not saying it's great by any means and he won't be able to buy another house for a long time, but I don't think it stops people working or even running businesses afterwards.
It certainly won't stop him spending time with his child.
Even if he has no money, he can still play and take his child to the park.

I know it's a difficult thing to cope with and I'm not saying otherwise but it doesn't mean his life is over.
It's a big thing to face short term, but longer term there is no reason why he can't have a succesful career or successful family life in future.

sibvenom

That is very kind of you and you have offered some very sensible advice, which I will pass on to him, it is much appreciated.

sibvenom

Can he declare himself bankrupt whilst still having a job?

msmicawber

Yes he can, sibvenom. I must say, though, that I'm surprised other posters are so confident that bankruptcy is his only option - I've just re-read all the posts and don't believe there's sufficient information there to make the decision. Why not get him to put a statement of affairs together (http://www.makesenseofcards.com/) and post it on the debt free wannabee board. He would also be advised to contact CCCS for free debt advice either by phone or via their web site. It could be that bankruptcy is his only option, but I'd urge him to investigate all avenues before making his decision. It's very hard to see a way out when you're depressed, but things aren't always as insoluble as you might think.

msmicawber

No, what I meant, ts_aly2000, is that we don't know how much he earns, how much the mortgage is, how many bedrooms the house has and whether it would be viable to rent it out or get lodgers and still cover the mortgage. The OP hasn't said that any bill or mortgage payments have not been met, so there's no reason to believe he's being hounded by anyone yet, or will be in the future.

space_rider

My brother took on a mortgage with my 2 other brothers back in the late 80`s. All 3 of my brothers paid 1 month mortgage and then the next month only 1 brother paid. After a few months of not paying the mortgage 2 of them moved out leaving my youngest brother. He was just under 20 at the time and had/has diabetes. My mum told him to hand the house over as it was in negative equity and the interest rate was going sky high. He took on 2 bar jobs as well as his job working for the council and ate at whatever relatives he could. The building society wouldn`t lend him the extra money to take my brothers off the mortgage as he didn`t earn enough. He wasn`t doing very well with his diabetes which wasn`t helped by the hours he was working. Eventually his kidneys packed up and he ended up on dialysis. I don`t know how he managed it but he kept on with all his jobs in between going to hospital around 3 times a week for his dialysis.

Finally he met a woman who is now his wife and the building society did lend him enough to take my other brothers off the mortgage. Thankfully he was also lucky enough to get a new kidney so things began to look up for him. He could have taken the easy way out but he didn`t. He worked hard and now the house is worth 3 times what he paid for it. He will never move as he doesn`t want to be in the same situation again. He only has a few years left on the mortgage as he has overpaid. He is now 36 and has no other debts.

Dithering_Dad

space_rider wrote: »

He is now 36 and has no other debts.

And someone else's kidneys and a lifetime of anti-rejection pills. I don't know if the stress of trying to pay this debt made his problems worse, though your post led me to believe it had, but money is no substitute for your health.

Had this chap simply gone bankrupt, the creditors would have chased his brothers and he would have been able to concentrate on his health instead of his debts.

Having a house worth 3x what he paid for it (though I dare say this is changing due to the housing price crash) is small comfort given his health problems.

JesseBirdsall

minimike2 wrote: »

sdooley wrote: »

As for mortgage advisors, they are only salesmen.quote]

I resent that accusation. I am not a salesman. Bank advisers / Tied Advisers, yes. Not the likes of me though.

A salesman is someone who sells you something you don't need. An adviser advises you on something you approach him for.

minimike2

JesseBirdsall wrote: »

minimike2 wrote: »

A salesman is someone who sells you something you don't need. An adviser advises you on something you approach him for.

Not really true, but it goes no further anyway in actually justifying your comment. I am an adviser, not a salesman.

space_rider

Dithering_Dad wrote: »

And someone else's kidneys and a lifetime of anti-rejection pills. I don't know if the stress of trying to pay this debt made his problems worse, though your post led me to believe it had, but money is no substitute for your health.

Had this chap simply gone bankrupt, the creditors would have chased his brothers and he would have been able to concentrate on his health instead of his debts.

Having a house worth 3x what he paid for it (though I dare say this is changing due to the housing price crash) is small comfort given his health problems.

The reason I posted was to illustrate that it is possible to get yourself out of a situation if you really try. Yes if he didn`t have the worry of the debts and if he was able to eat properly then his kidneys would have lasted much longer. I am very proud of him as I am quite a bit older than him!

If he didn`t have someone elses kidney then he would not be alive today. To him anti rejection pills for the rest of his life is a small price to pay.