COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF LUCAN AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

MOTION NO. 3

MOTION: Councillor E. Tuffy

Cathaoirleach’s Business

"That this Committee requests the Manager to provide a Report to Lucan EA Councillors on the number of households in the Lucan Electoral Area who hold mortgages from the Council on their homes, the number of such Mortgage Holders who are in arrears with their re-payments for a period of 90 days or more, and to give an outline summary of how the Council is dealing with families/individuals who are having serious repayment difficulties."

REPORT: 

There are 128 households in the Lucan Electoral Area which have a Council loan.  21 of these accounts are more than 90 days in arrears.

South Dublin County Council has long had a policy of early intervention for mortgage accounts that fall into arrears and borrowers have been dealt with in a timely efficient and flexible way.  On average 13% of South Dublin County Council mortgages are in arrears of more than 90 days compared to a national Local Authority average of 28%.

Since 1st October 2012 the Council has implemented the Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (MARP) guidelines issued by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the City and County Manager’s Association. 

MARP is a framework for dealing with borrowers in arrears in a timely, efficient and flexible way, which provides mechanisms and structures for dealing with instances of arrears and is a process designed to be fair to both the lending authority and borrower

The MARP process includes the following steps

Step 1 - Communication

Step 2- Financial Information

Step 3- Assessment

Step 4 - Resolution

Step 5 – Appeal

In compliance with the MARP requirements South Dublin County Council has a Dedicated Mortgage Arrears Management Team as follows in place

• Arrears Support Officers: experienced and dedicated loan staff
• Appeals Panel: must include personnel independent of any previous dealings with borrower
• Appeals Officer : Named individual as Point of Contact for borrower in appeals process

Full details of the Council’s Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process are available on the Council website, click here  for the link.