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Ernesto lost his job about three months ago. Yes but not only me, at least 200 workers
were retrenched. They said it was because of the global recession but the recession
is blamed for everything. That’s when we missed our first payment.
We purchased a house when we first arrived from Chile. We were both working then and
we were careful not to extend ourselves too much. So when interest rates went up we cut
back on the little luxuries like eating out and taking our overseas holidays. But when
Ernesto lost his job we knew we had to face the facts.
So we sat down together and worked out how it was going to affect us. If we had to get
by on one income for three months or maybe longer. The increase in power bills had been
a real shock but the house gets cold in winter and we have a 10-year old boy to think about.
So we skipped a mortgage payment. We thought we could get back on track once
Ernesto found work. Then we got the letter from the bank about missing a repayment. Legally
speaking, missing a payment breaks the mortgage contract so Ernesto was really worried. Could
they take the house from us? I suggested to call the bank and tell them about our circumstances
but Ernesto thought that if the bank found out he’d lost his job, they might take legal
action to repossess the house. So what to do?
I looked online for information. The MoneySmart website suggested the best thing to do was
to tell the bank about our situation as soon as possible. So that’s what I did. I called
the bank and I am so glad I did.