Victorian home owners losing it all

By Mark Dunn  From: Herald Sun  November 17, 2010 11:00PM

More than 11,000 Victorian homes have been repossessed in the past five years. Picture: Marzolla Dean Source: Herald Sun

LENDERS have moved to seize almost 11,000 Victorian properties worth about $2.5 billion in the past five years.
Foreclosure actions by major banks, second-tier and non-bank lenders to repossess homes, units and land resulted in an average of 2629 people threatened with losing their properties each year since 2006, according to Supreme Court data.
The Victorian Sheriff's Office was called in to evict 321 people to enforce sales by banks and finance companies last year and 500 people in 2008-2009 - a peak year of 3080 foreclosures actions.

The Sheriff's Office said a number of possession warrants issued in 2009-2010 were against individuals who held more than one property, an indication investors were being hit as well as first home buyers and others facing mortgage stress after seven Reserve Bank rate rises in the past year.

Related Coverage

• ANZ blinks ... on fixed mortgages Herald Sun, 8 days ago
• $16m bank boss 'feels your pain' Perth Now, 8 days ago
• Miss a payment, lose your house Courier Mail, 6 Nov 2010
• Freddie Mac notches narrower loss The Australian, 4 Nov 2010
• US probes illegal foreclosure claims The Australian, 7 Oct 2010

Commonwealth Bank customer Mirna Francis, who represented herself in the Supreme Court last month, lost her attempt to prevent a forced sale of her Hood Crescent, Fawkner unit going ahead as the bank moved to recover a $281,407 plus interest loan.

The property is due for auction on November 27 and is among others the bank is calling in with warrants of possession approved since March over loans ranging from $395,000 to more than $1 million, according to court files. National Australia Bank, Westpac and ANZ have also moved to recover outstanding loans by seeking foreclosure. The CBA, ANZ and others ask customers facing mortgage stress to contact them well before it gets to repossession stage. "Home loan repossession is a last resort for the bank and we work with customers to avoid this," a CBA spokeswoman said.

"It is not in the best interests for our customers or the bank. "The bank has a hardship unit for customers who are facing financial difficulty or for those whose circumstances have changed."The ANZ said of its 850,000 mortgage holders, less than 250 foreclosures had occurred last year and 13,000 customers had received hardship assistance. Michael Hamilton of R & R Real Estate in Narre Warren expects the number of foreclosures to rise next year. He said the recent rate rises and Christmas would be enough to force some homeowners out. Those seeking assistance can phone their banks,