THE FREE Legal Advice Centre has called on all banks to make a code of conduct, aimed at protecting mortgage holders in difficulty, more widely available including, in all bank branches.
The independent legal rights organisation has issued guidelines aimed at helping people to understand the revised Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears introduced by the Financial Regulator.
It has also called for wider reform to help people deal with their overall debt situation.
Under the new code, since January 1st banks can no longer impose penalties on customers in mortgage arrears; force them to surrender tracker mortgages; or bombard them with letters and calls demanding repayment.
Mortgage holders struggling to meet repayments must be offered significant levels of protection once they co-operate with the new arrears resolution process.
“The first thing that people need to deal with any problem is adequate information,” said Noeline Blackwell, director general of the organisation. It was essential, she said, that people could readily access the codes “even before they meet their lenders, so that they can make themselves familiar with what is likely to happen”. She asked for it to be made available in “every branch of every lending institution”. She described the code as “only a partial solution for those with sustainable mortgages which can be paid off in full eventually”.
“Given the indicated rise in interest rates, and the reduced pay packets for so many, there is an urgent need for much wider reform . . . [for] those who despair of dealing with their overall debt situation. [We are] seeking commitments from all political parties to treat this as a priority issue in the upcoming election.”