Millions of homeowners are paying their monthly mortgage with a credit card according to a poll carried out by YouGov for our ROOF Magazine.
The survey of 2200 people found that nearly 6% of home owners are adopting this drastic measure to avoid the threat of having their homes repossesed. Analysis of the figures projects that as many as 1 million house holds may have adopted this practice.
The charity Shelter is issuing a stark warning to people about the dangers of using credit cards which could result in the loss of their home. Credit card companies have to recover their debts and are not subject to the same rules as mortgage lenders. Once they obtain a charging order on people’s property, credit card companies can go back to the court for a possession order to force a sale to recover the debt.
Kay Boycott of Shelter said: “This is a shocking discovery, that over a million households in Britain are in such desperate circumstances that they need to borrow money on credit cards to pay for basic housing costs.
“If people are already struggling to the extent that they fear losing their home, increasing credit card debt cannot be the answer.”
For advice on coping with housing costs click here: http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/paying_for_a_home/advice_on_coping_with_housing_costs
* Photo credit pfreviews.
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