One of the most worrying aspects for anyone considering entering a debt solution such as a Consumer Proposal is what happens to their assets. You may have spent a lifetime building your assets and made great sacrifices along the way, only to see debt and finally it gets taken away.
One requirement was that all your assets – your estate – must be handed over to your Trustee for valuation, sale and distribution to creditors. Essential household goods were excluded, but your car wasn’t if you owned it outright and it was above a certain value (you’d be asked to buy a cheaper model), and unfortunately your property wasn’t excluded either, even if it was in negative equity.
In the latter case a trustee would assess the value of your home (and any other properties), get a redemption figure from your mortgage or any loans that you have secured on it, and you would probably have to re-mortgage or sell up so the equity could be released to the creditors.
One of the biggest sticking points of Consumer Proposals has always been this – how insecure and worried it makes people when their home – the bedrock of family life – is included in the arrangement. It has put off many thousands of people entering the debt solution over the years, many of whom could have been helped, but weren’t.
There were of course options that would allow you to stay in your home. A third party – a spouse or a family member – could contribute to your estate to the value of the equity or you could re-mortgage at the end of the Consumer Proposals term.
This of course depended on whether you co-owned your property with someone else and whether they gave their consent for the property to be valued or part of the arrangement. In some circumstances, if they refused a Trustee would have to go to court and force the sale.
As if all these pressures were not enough, the economic downturn created new pressures of its own. Apart from difficulties arising with paying a mortgage, when equity is reduced by falling house prices there is less money to be released plus the credit crunch has made it more difficult to access new loans at reasonable rates of interest so equity can be released.
And if the house must be sold…well…it was going to be a long wait. That’s if your property had equity – if you were in negative equity you could not sell with the lender’s permission and accepting yet more debt in the form of a shortfall.
All these things combined meant that people who would have benefited from having a Consumer Proposal decided against them or had their proposals rejected by creditors. More people were being sequestered than ever before.
Unfortunately, if you have an expensive car that you own outright you will have to downgrade to a cheaper model as there is no provision under the new amendments to exclude these from your Consumer Proposal. But your biggest comfort, your home, will still be your own.
Free Help And Debt Advice
If you are considering the Consumer Proposal solution we can give you free impartial debt advice on how to get out of debt effectively. Alternatively, use our Free Online Calculator to see if you qualify and we will help you.
CONSUMER PROPOSAL EXAMPLE
Example Unsecured Debts
1 | Personal loan | $8,000 |
2 | Credit card 1 | $6,812 |
3 | Tax Debts | $5,399 |
4 | Overpayments | $5,200 |
5 | Overdraft | $700 |
Total Owed | $30,204 |
Your Monthly Repayments Would Be
a Consumer proposal $748
(total contractual repayments)
a Consumer proposal $295
(total contractual repayments)
60%
* Subject to creditor acceptance
* Payment subject to individual circumstances
* Credit rating may be affected
* Fees apply, subject to individual's circumstances.