A NON-PROFIT organisation that provides free legal support to people in mortgage arrears will begin to charge €250 for each case to negotiate client repayment terms with banks.
New Beginnings, a collaboration of legal and financial professionals, expects to roll out the new fee to all new and existing clients in the next six weeks.
Co-founder David Hall said his organisation simply could not afford to provide the service without charging the fee.
“We couldn’t go on without charging anything at all; it just wouldn’t be possible to do it,” Mr Hall said. “We are here to help anyone that needs us and we will still provide legal help to people in arrears. We have a massive amount of solicitors and barristers that give their time free of charge to help these people every day.”
There is a chance some clients would be put off by the fee, however the cost of the service was, he argued, minimal when compared to the benefits of the expert help they provided.
Mr Hall warned that ignoring the bank would not make mortgage problems go away, but would further exacerbate the problem. “Burying your head in the sand gets you absolutely nowhere, people need to ensure they are on a level playing field with the banks. Banks have huge resources available to them and great legal knowledge.”
Those in arrears but with larger assets portfolios than one family home can expect to pay significantly more for the service.
