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What does repossession mean and how to protect yourself from it to happen?


Repossession is a threat which is often brought up in credit related articles and real estate credit related discussions. However, in real this is something that really happens only to those who act and live very irresponsibly and in the end they are unwilling to face the consequences of their avoidant techniques. Let’s help you understand what home repossession is and when does it really happen.

What is home repossession?

We try to put it as simply as possible: when you opt to buy a home or any property for that matter and you need money to buy it, the easiest way to do so is to get a mortgage with the mortgage generally becoming the property you buy. This is a very optional business as you can move in right then, you can live in the home and pay it back step by step within a predefined timeframe. The payback time for a property ranges generally between 10 to 20 years. However if the debtor did not ensure they will always have the monthly amount to use for paying back, he or she can easily get into a bad situation. Especially if the debtor does not opt for a credit or mortgage insurance which would ensure financial protection for several months, even when the debtor is literally unable to pay. Repossession only occurs if a debtor is not only unable to pay but also when the debtor gives no signs or will to pay much of anything for months and is not willing to discuss things with the credit institute either. First the debt is brought to court and when the final decision is made, then repossession men will go to the home to collect the keys and get the debtor and all the belongings out of the house. This is the very final step therefore the process can take a pretty long time. If someone is in his/her right mind they have tons of changes to get out of this situation.

How to protect yourself from repossession?

Although credit institutes nowadays use a much better filtering system to make sure all people who opt for a mortgage would surely pay, in real the property is partly or wholly is the belonging of the credit institute until the moment the full payback time ( with interests) is done and finished. That’s exactly why debtors need to make sure they are insured and secured. Optionally, the best case scenario is if the debtor is able to pay up to at least 50% of the total price from his or her own money.

This way they are not fully dependant on the mortgage and the credit institute also has no right to do a full repossession either. As a final resort, if this is the situation and the debtor is really unable to pay the remaining 50% the property can get sold and this way the credit institute can easily get the whole sum of the mortgage back while the owner can move to a smaller property paid from the remaining 50% which was their own money.