COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, April 08, 2013
QUESTION NO. 16
QUESTION: Councillor E. Tuffy
To ask the Manager to provide a report on the number of households in the County who hold mortgages from the Council, the number of these Council mortgage holders who are in arrears for more than 90 days, and the approach taken by the Council to work with mortgage holders who are experiencing serious difficulties in making their mortgage repayments?
REPLY:
The Councils Loan Portfolio represents 1171 households in the County with a Council loan. 155 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.