The recorded rate of repossessions in Ireland is low because lenders prefer the 'jingle mail' route. Also taking place are payment deferrals, moratoriums, forced sales and cash incentives to switch to other lenders.
Jon Ihle reports

When is a repossession not a repossession? When you 'volunteer' to give up your house, of course. As more cash-strapped homeowners run into trouble with their mortgage payments, banks are trying to avoid formal, legalistic repossession procedures in favour one-to-one solutions.

One of these is something called 'voluntary surrender'. Sometimes called 'jingle mail' in the US, voluntary surrender is an agreement whereby the borrower hands over possession of the house to the lender to clear the outstanding mortgage.

It's a legal practice but, crucially, does not appear in official repossession statistics as the arrangements take place out of court.

Original Article