‘Having my home loan owned by a vulture fund is a nightmare’

She and her then husband took out a mortgage with Permanent TSB in 2004 for a home in Stamullen, Co Meath.

Originally from Dublin, all was fine until her marriage broke up in 2009 and she struggled to pay the mortgage.

She was unable to meet the monthly repayments of €1,250 a month as she was working three days a week and her daughter Erin was in a creche.

“I engaged with Permanent TSB and they were not too bad to deal with.”

She was advised to pay what she could, and did so. Ms Bridgette also started working four days a week to help meet the repayments.

Despite this, the public servant with Dublin City Council was in negative equity.

She was offered a mortgage restructure by PTSB. A chunk of mortgage was warehoused – put aside to be paid later.

Ms Bridgette says she met the repayments, but was shocked in 2017 to get a letter from PTSB telling her that her mortgage was being sold.

She was assured the terms would not change and there was no need to make any changes to the payment arrangement. “From then on it has been a nightmare,” she says.

Her loan was sold to an unidentified vulture fund and is serviced by Pepper. She continued to engage, this time with Pepper, but says the situation has become very difficult since the European Central Bank rate hikes.

Her rate is now 6.75pc, and Pepper told her it is going to 7pc following the May ECB rate rise.

She has sought help from Mabs and is getting advice from financial advisers Moneysherpa.ie. She is unable to switch to another lender to benefit from a fixed rate due to having a restructured mortgage.

Ms Bridgette says she is still paying the agreed restructured monthly repayment and has promised to use an inheritance and her lump sum due when she retires to pay off some of the mortgage.

However, she fears she is going to end up in arrears. There is a threat of repossession proceedings.

She has suffered mental health issues amid the stress and has had to take time off work.

Ms Bridgette says she and her 15-year-old daughter Erin are determined to keep their home.

She is dreading more interest rate rises, with the ECB predicted to increase its rates this month and again before the end of the summer.

“I can’t afford the mortgage because the interest rates keep rising,” she says. She has been advised to look at doing a personal insolvency arrangement, an option she is now considering.

Ms Bridgette is hoping that if she goes this route, she can get some debt written off and get her mortgage repayments down to a manageable level, allowing her to keep the home.