ILL GRAN THROWN TO THE VULTURES
Tragic woman’s house sold as she learns about brain disease
A SICK grandmother begged for help last night after cruel Permanent TSB flogged her home to a vulture fund.
Marian Cahill, 63, and her husband Peter are going through hell as they fight serious illnesses.
Marian, from Co Donegal, said: “The same week we got the letter from the bank I found out I am headed for dementia.”
A WOMAN was dealt a cruel double blow after finding out her home has been sold to a vulture fund in the same week as learning she is developing dementia.
Marian Cahill, 63, opened up last night about the heartbreak banks are inflicting on the most vulnerable.
Her husband Peter, 62, has a serious heart condition and spent the past 10 years battling lenders to save their home in Bundoran, Co Donegal.
After losing his job during the crash he commuted to Dublin for work.
Marian told the Irish Mirror: “The same week we got the letter from the bank I found out I have vascular degenerative disease, which has caused cognitive impairment.
“Ultimately, I am headed for dementia. I am deteriorating rapidly.
“So I found out my brain is going to go in the same week I found out my home is going to go.
“Obviously with this happening, staying in my house where everything is familiar to me would have been better.”
She insisted working families are being punished and hit out at banks who received a €64billion bailout during the crash.
JEOPARDY
Marian, who learned of her double blow last month, said: “We received the letter telling us Permanent TSB sold our mortgage to a vulture fund.
“I found it hard to believe a company that is virtually owned by the State can sell mortgages off to another company without consent.
“I thought it’s hardly likely they are going to put homes in jeopardy.”
The grandmother also claimed politicians have washed their hands of the mortgage crisis.
Marian said: “A bank is a bank, it’s an entity that does not care about anything other than making money. We don’t expect any better from them.
“But we do expect more from our Government. The State is supposed to operate for the good of the people first and foremost.
“That is what a Republic is supposed to do. I look around and see there is money in this country again. It’s the same people who caused the crisis that are making money again.
“My husband always worked but he lost his job in the financial crisis.
“It’s quite a shock when you’ve always worked to just learn your job is gone.”
She added the couple are on the invalidity pension and “barely surviving”.
Marian said: “My husband is in heart failure and stage three renal failure. The shock of losing his job certainly contributed to his health going into a downward spiral. Every six months we had to deal with the banks, fill out financial statements.
“I had to ask them to stop contacting my husband. The constant pressure was taking its toll on him.
“His kidney function is very low and with his heart, we’re not even sure if he will be able for the dialysis.
“It would have to be home dialysis, but where are they going to do that if we lose our home?
“I always had hope but when that letter came the other day at the same time as getting the other news about my health, it was just too much.”
During the recession Peter found another job and worked four days a week in the capital.
Marian said the couple tried to survive on an interest-only restructured agreement.
She added: “He did everything he could, we weren’t people that just sat back.
“Our mortgage was €1,300 every month. I’m not looking for a house for nothing. We didn’t borrow more than we could afford.
“We just bought a home for our family. We never did anything out of greed or took a gamble. Everything we did was for our family.
“We have been paying interest only but have always engaged with the banks. We left ourselves practically penniless.”
The couple had their mortgage down to €150,000 but they have had €20,000 lumped back on to their total debt in compound interest.
Marian said: “We agreed to sell the house but the market had collapsed.
“If people weren’t buying houses in Dublin, the situation was certainly worse in Donegal.
“We thought that we could do the mortgage to rent but we were told the council didn’t want to take our mortgage because our house is not suitable.
“It’s a four-bedroom bungalow but they say we have too many bedrooms. We have a fourth bedroom because my mother lived with us and she died last year, aged 90.
“We are now being punished for this. I am losing out because I took care of an elderly woman.”
Her mother suffered a stroke and was practically blind and needed round-the-clock assistance for more than 20 years.
Marian cared for her full-time, saving the State hundreds of thousands in nursing home fees.
She said: “When Leo [Varadkar] talked about early risers, I was one of them but I wasn’t just up early I could have been up during the night as well minding my mother. But I wouldn’t
I have no strength left. I feel like I am barely hanging on
MARIAN CAHILL
YESTERDAY
have had it any other way.” Marian claimed the insurance industry is profiting from people’s suffering.
She said: “All along we have continued to pay a €208 insurance policy but then we recently discovered the value of the policy is ever decreasing even though the amount we owe on the mortgage hasn’t gone down.
“Two hundred and eight euro a month is a huge amount of money for us and the policy is worth just over €90,000 while the mortgage is €170,000.” After years of living with the fear of losing her home, Marian said speaking out is important.
She added: “A huge amount of people have thought through shame that they couldn’t talk about it.
“But I have the moral support I need right now from my family.
“An awful amount of people don’t because they can’t tell anyone.”
Marian also told how she is at breaking point, adding: “The car broke down the other day and we didn’t have the money to fix it, a good friend had to lend us money. I have no strength left. I feel like I am barely hanging on.”
MARIAN Cahill’s story is a prime example of how low the banks will stoop when it comes to protecting their bottom line.
She and her husband Peter are seriously ill and were put in a precarious position when Peter lost his job as the economy collapsed.
Their income decimated and their future uncertain, what they needed was some compassion from Permanent TSB.
Instead, Marian got a letter confirming the house they love was sold off to a vulture fund in the same week she was told she was developing dementia.
It is time for our politicians to stand up and fight for people like the Cahills.