Hand the keys in and walk away? No chance!

Have just spoken to my solicitor regarding repossesion .I asked about the bank taking 60% of the valuation of a property that does not sell at auction.

She confirmed that this is 60% of the current value not the valuation done for the mortgage. This is very depressing news.

Oh Dear,

in the bad old days many would describe uk mortgages as a millstone around one's neck.

I wonder what anyone would describe Spanish mortgages as currently????

I guess many would give their properties away to anyone who would take on the mortgage.

Could that be done without horrendous tax and other charges?

Regards

Norman

It would cost about 10% in taxes and charges  (the same as if one bought a property)  plus the possiblity of gift tax if the Hacieda considered the propery was worth more than was owing

Dear All,

Faro always says buying in Spain is expensive.

they certainly know how to hit the unwary.

Regards

Norman

Dear All,,

I am sure nobody intended to buy a place and then have the misfortune to be in the position of being given no option but to hand keys back.  ( and before you ask  "Norman s" being ripped of by developers or Banks also)

Most people have lost there home, there savings and  there dream everything.

There is enough people on this site who have there say!, we should be thinking of ways to help these people with constructive advice.  Not putting everything to blame.

Maybe Justin and friends could open a form of citizens advice??? where people can get some real advice! also Costaluz do some sessions there..for FREE Maybe?????? not just the first consultation free in there office, which most offer.

Its about today,, if we could turn back time I am sure some would. Far too much heart ache..

And before all of you ask YES I did loose my dream, and YES I did have to come back but I thought tooth and nail to stop my villa being reposessed..

Tony

....Most of the buyers who took inflated mortgages knew what they were doing.... that is not entirely true

I bought apartment because I wanted holiday place.  Unfortunately I relied on friend's father to guide me and ended up with expensive apartment (I know more money then sense- former not true, later now too late).

Banks definitely overvalued the property. Had I known that at that time I would not have gone ahead.  Now I can't rent it, sale it or give it back to the bank for fear of UK litigation.  friend'a father? he got his commission, wanted to borrow another 40,000/- from me. When said NO - you know the score--- Later I learned I was the only client he had.  Yes he is Englishman---

Jasmilu

 Yesterday Santander announced that as of 1st August it will offer a moratorium on home loan repayments for a period of up to three years for those who have lost a minimum of 25% of the income of their household due to unemployment or salary cuts.

Is this just Santander UK though? (i.e Abbey National).

No, is Santander in Spain. I wonder how they have got round the Bank of Spain regulations? I thought any adjustments to mortgages always involved a notary etc. All we tried to do was move just the payment date of our mortgage from the 13th of the month to the first of the month when we both get paid, and were basically told it was impossible unless we were prepared to pay hundreds of euros for notaries and arrangement fees. "Bank of Spain regulations".

So every month we get charged about 30€ for paying late.

I suppose it is a step in the right direction, although can´t help thinking it would be of more use to people if all they had to pay was the capital for 3 years rather than the interest. The interest makes up about 85% of the payments on ours.

No, this is Santander in Spain. I was listening to a programme about the banking crisis in Europe. Here is a press release about it.

MADRID -(Dow Jones)- Spain's Banco Santander SA (STD) will offer a three-year mortgage payment suspension for clients facing financial difficulties and who have trouble paying their home loans, Chief Executive Alfredo Saenz said Wednesday. Speaking at a press conference, Saenz said the bank will change the terms of loans for clients who have lost their job, or families that have seen a 25% drop in monthly income. The plan will launch next month. The bank is offering clients the chance to pay only the interest on loans over the next three years, cutting the amount they would have to pay each month and it will extend the maturity of the loans by the same period. "We think it will ease the burden significantly" for people who are in a difficult financial situation, Saenz said at a press conference. The offer comes as foreclosures in Spain are increasing amid a prolonged economic downturn that has led to millions of people losing their jobs. Unemployment is 21.3%, having more than doubled since the beginning of the crisis. Bad debt in Spain reached its highest levels since 1995 in May, at 6.5% of the total debt in the system. ;

As you say, it will be a couple of years too late for many. Really, with the sort of emergency funding they are making available to banks, a 3 year freeze on the mortgage would be more useful to families without an income. The interest is where they make their money anyway, so they´re hardly making a great sacrifice are they? Telling people "We realise you have no job and your paro is about to finish, so pay us 15% less each month" is about as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike to people who haven´t the faintest idea how they are going to pay their utility bills, groceries etc. 

Far too little, far too late.