Barclays taking house off 76yr old with Dementia, as Interest Only Mortgage has expired

dementia_barclays · 12 October 2018 at 11:08PM

My mum has had a mortgage for 45 years. It represents 17% of it's value.
They don't want to continue it, once it reached the end of it's term, even after agreeing to continue it in May of this year. We only get to know a repossession court date is due on 30th of this month, 10 days ago. Barclays know she was staying with me over summer and it was only a neighbour checking post, that alerted us.
(Barclays has made it very difficult for me to assist my mum on the issue)

They wanted a message from the doctor, which they got, now they changed their mind and want a more formal letter via the post. Before 'possibly' reconsidering.

Her rate was/is a minimum of 5% and went higher when rates increased recently. So they are earning well from her. Plus she paid off two loans they sold her, to pay off overdrafts, they kept letting her fill up! Until we asked them to stop. Both stink of miss selling.

The impact of this will worry her, cause her to fear leaving her home and disrupt her recuperation with us. An effort that took her from being skin and bones, close to death (even with carers/social workers visiting), to eating and being more healthy.

Thrugelmir · 12 October 2018 at 11:45PM

Seems as if you are skirting round the real issue, i.e. how the mortgage is going to be repaid. Do you have POA over your mothers affairs.

dementia_barclays · 12 October 2018 at 11:52PM

Thanks Thrugelmir

No... but if they align that one mortgage to her other which ends in 2025, she is likely to have passed on. Meaning its sale will repay their 17%

She is Scottish... wiry & stubborn,
so will never willingly go into a home or relinquish control

Hopefully Barclays will see sense

dementia_barclays · 13 October 2018 at 12:13AM

Barclays did ask how long will it be, before she is dead
(she has 'Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease' too, so that might please them!)

csgohan4 · 13 October 2018 at 7:39AM

It's nothing personal but it's business, they are not a charity and your mother signed a contract regarding the mortgage and your mother got extra loans which was her choice.

You have to decide the long term outlook, how is she going to repay the mortgage after the term ended?

Selling up and downsizing will be the reasonable option, being stubborn or having dementia will not stop the bank repossessing, they need their loan repaid, just as if you lent someone money and agreed a date to be paid back. You can try and delay things but the money has to be repaid eventually.

People live many years with COPD and she is still young.

AnotherJoe · 13 October 2018 at 8:04AM

dementia_barclays wrote: »

Thanks Thrugelmir

No... but if they align that one mortgage to her other which ends in 2025, she is likely to have passed on. Meaning its sale will repay their 17%

She is Scottish... wiry & stubborn,
so will never willingly go into a home or relinquish control

She's gone into your home, doesn't seem capable of living in hers even with support (from what you've posted) and appears to have relinquished control to you to manage her finances because she wasn't doing a great job when she was looking after them herself (again, from what you've posted)?

Plenty of people with dementia go into homes unwillingly, probably most in fact. Thats a feature of the condition. At the moment she/you seem to be paying 5% interest for her home to be empty on what might be the tenuous grounds that "one day" she'll go back when that seems unlikely.

If you'd like that to continue then probably adverse publicity (hence your user name no doubt) is your main grounds for hoping Barclays will allow it to continue, but there are hundreds of thousands of people in your parents position who took no account of how to repay their mortgage when they started it are the banks meant to give them all a pass? (though, on 5% interest you'd think they ought to be only to happy to)

FWIW I dont think Barclays were being harsh asking about your mums health, no point redeeming the mortgage if it wont be needed near term, but my mum had a serious and inoperable heart condition from her 60's. She lived until age 92.

amersall · 13 October 2018 at 8:11AM

If I were in your position I would sell, seems like there is no other option. I agree with the other posters replies regarding this.

AnotherJoe · 13 October 2018 at 8:28AM

p.s. any reason you cant raise the mortgage amount yourself by increasing your mortgage? Then pay off mums mortgage with a loan to her (so it remains your money otherwise social services may nab it) she pays you so you repay your loan with those payments, and at least its going to be at half the interest rate so yo could move to a repayment mortgage.

elsien · 13 October 2018 at 8:28AM

Before your mum developed dementia, having had a mortgage for 45 years she must have known that at some point the capital would be due.
What was her plan for paying it off?

You say Barclays are making it difficult for you to deal with this on mums behalf. They are probably not being awkward but following the law.
Having a dementia diagnosis does not automatically mean your mum lacks capacity to deal with her own finances and the presumption is that someone has capacity unless it can be evidenced otherwise.
If mum has capacity then she writes a letter authorising them to speak to you on her behalf. And then very quickly does a power of attorney for when she becomes more unwell.
If she's already lost capacity and there isn't a power of attorney then you are probably going to need to apply for a deputyship which is not a quick process and has associated costs.

ACG · 13 October 2018 at 9:59AM

I always struggle with things like this, your mother made an application in the knowledge that at the end of however many years she would need to clear the Mortgage. Now because it does not suit you are complaining.

Barclays are sticking to their end of the deal. Personally, I think the whole idea of doing interest only until 75+ is dangerous unless there is a savings plan in place (rather than downsizing)... But that is just my opinion.

As suggested above, rather than fight Barclays which is just going to add to any stress why not find an alternative?

- Equity release (that could eat in to any equity - although some ER providers do allow interest only repayments).
- Another interest only mortgage (sometimes referred to as RIO - Retirement interest only) - Your mother would need to evidence an income even if it is only a pension.

dunstonh · 13 October 2018 at 11:19AM

Barclays taking house off 76yr old with Dementia, as Interest Only Mortgage has expired

Removing all emotion from the scenario, then what is the problem with that?

Mortgage has ended and needs repaying. What is going to repay it? A 45 year mortgage worth 17% of the value suggests that there was probably further advances made over the years. Using the equity as a cash machine possibly. What plans were put in place to repay those mortgages? She wouldnt have had dementia back then. So, being of sound mind, how did she intend to repay.

The responses on the thread are likely to be focused and without emotion. Nobody else here has any emotional attachment to this and is looking at the cold hard facts. So, don't take the responses negatively. They are purely to keep it short and understandable without having to write paragraphs to wrap you up in cotton wool.

They don't want to continue it, once it reached the end of it's term, even after agreeing to continue it in May of this year.

Mortgages are a fixed term product. There is an allowance made for upto 12 months (as things like endowments don't always mature at the same time as the mortgage). Subject to lending criteria, a lender may approve a new mortgage to replace it.

(Barclays has made it very difficult for me to assist my mum on the issue)

They wanted a message from the doctor, which they got, now they changed their mind and want a more formal letter via the post. Before 'possibly' reconsidering.

Barclays are complying with the law. A lot of firms have changed the way they deal with things like this when the DPA became the GDPR earlier this year. Most things have tightened up with the GDPR and made more formal.

Her rate was/is a minimum of 5% and went higher when rates increased recently. So they are earning well from her. Plus she paid off two loans they sold her, to pay off overdrafts, they kept letting her fill up! Until we asked them to stop. Both stink of miss selling.

Nothing you have said suggests misselling. Maybe you can expand on that so we can see if there is a case or not (very few do and most misselling allegations fail).

so will never willingly go into a home or relinquish control

But she is no longer in her home and because of dementia, she is gradually relinquishing control. Sadly that is inevitable. Horrible scenario.

Two options come to mind here.
1 - Equity release
2 - sell up
A technical third of repossession is undesirable and expensive and should aim to be avoided.

Depending on the stage of dementia and with no power of attorney, it will soon start getting expensive if you need the courts to make the decisions for her.

Barclays taking house off 76yr old with Dementia, as Interest Only Mortgage has expired

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