In The Public Interest

at

boi_banner_680x192_v4Bank of Ireland ad

From the *cough* Irish Times:

“…why, after the worst property bust in history, haven’t I seen any public-interest ads on telly warning people of the risks of buying a home, and especially the risks of borrowing money to do so?”

“Maybe the powers-that-be assume the risks are obvious. For years it’s been impossible to switch on talk radio without hearing miserable unfortunates say they had no notion their lender was unregulated / didn’t know they’d still owe money even after they relinquished their over-mortgaged house / are gobsmacked their lender could veto a deal to sell their property at a loss.”

“…How about a public-interest ad showing Mum and Dad a few years on, when they split up and learn they are both, individually, responsible for the entire mortgage, even if one of them is unemployed and the other has moved out? Oh, and the lender won’t let one of them buy out the other.”

FIGHT!

Why we need a public-interest property ad campaign (Mary Feely, Wednesday’s Irish Times)

Eamonn Farrell/Photocall Ireland

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22 thoughts on “In The Public Interest

  1. Selfie Sensation

    How about reading all the paper work before you sign it? Or even better how about asking your solicitor what might happen if you default on the loan? Taking out a mortgage is a big deal, people should be expected to inform themselves about what is going on before they do it.

    1. Medium Sized C

      I agree with her.

      Its easy to be righteous about it, but people don’t know about this shite and are STILL being bombarded with the whole property as self-validation agenda.

      A few ads would probably be a good thing.

    2. Ahjayzis

      It’s easy to take that attitude, and understandable really.

      But we all would benefit if there were some proper mandatory education around this stuff before you buy. It’s not a situation where it’s ‘on your own head be it’ – we all pay for clueless buyers and incompetent banks, demonstrably.

      Your average Joe buys property once or twice in his whole life, the biggest financial transaction he’ll ever make. It’s MAD the only criteria is that set by the bank.

      Make the risks clear and make renting more secure so people don’t totally punt it on a giant mortgage they’ve no hope of repaying.

      1. Selfie Sensation

        the problem is that no one in this country wants to be accountable for their own actions. As you point out most people will only buy a house once or twice and yet we are expected to accept the lack of an ad campaign as an excuse for why they have no idea what they have signed and what it means?

        I don’t buy that for a second, if I take out a loan I read the terms and conditions or I pay a solicitor to read it and explain it to me. The buck stops with me so it is my responsibility to be informed or two take the steps necessary to be informed.

        Obviously the banks and lawyers all have their own responsibilities but saying “I didn’t know and I didn’t bother to find out” simply isn’t good enough.

  2. D

    It really does astonish me that all these people, who for all intents and purposes appear to be utter morons, somehow manage to find the means to buy a house. If you don’t even have the cop on to read a contract when borrowing hundreds of thousands of euro, how can you possibly have any value whatsoever to any employer??

    (I realise that this is a slightly reductive take on it, but the level of idiocy out there really is something to behold sometimes. How is it that nobody ever seems to be responsible for their own crappy decisions?).

    1. Ahjayzis

      Well in fairness the only people not held responsible are the banks… the one side of the transaction that’s actually supposed to know better, seeing as they do it hundreds of times a week and the borrower does it once or twice ever.

      1. Rob_G

        I don’t know – weren’t billions wiped from their balance sheets, and didn’t most go into state-ownership?

  3. D

    What risk? Is it not the policy here on broadsheet that nobody should ever be evicted from their home?

  4. Sinabhfuil

    Buyer education would be good. Protection against some of the things she warns against would be good.

  5. scottser

    lads, the sheer up-yer-hole-ness of these comments is most unbecoming of yis. it’s quite obvious that ye need pints even more than me.

    my god, will this day never end!!!!!!

  6. Chris

    Yay! Mortgages for all. I wish I had a another big fat inflated one like the one I have right now and I could go out gazumping in South Dublin. Gazump!

  7. phil

    There is a clause, somewhere Im sure, maybe in Endas head ….’The public interest shall not interfere with absolute right of PEP’s to make more profits ‘

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