But if they do not, the home can be repossessed and sold at auction.
This allows the lender to claim on the guarantee if the property is ever repossessed and sold at a loss.
The share of buy-to-let properties which were repossessed remained stable at 0.12pc, compared with a slight fall in the proportion of owner-occupied homes which were repossessed, to 0.07pc.
According to Martins, apartments in the town centre are being repossessed and sold at auctions now taking place almost weekly: "Flats that a few years ago would have cost €130,000 are selling for less than a third of that.
Big lenders like the system because it's convenient: They can unload all their accounts to a one-stop shop that takes care of finding agents and, in some cases, even auctions off the repossessed autos, all at a low price.
Meanwhile, despite the sector's high profits, challenges remain: home prices are forecast to decline into next year while lenders continue to repossess homes at record rates; the commercial real estate market has yet to hit its nadir; community banks continue to fail; and the number of lenders on the FDIC's confidential "Problem List" continues to grow.
Or, as he puts it: there's no better way of reducing risk than bankers waking up at 3am and realising a trade might result in a "son being thrown out of Eton for unpaid school fees or a daughter having her pony repossessed by the bailiffs at the gymkhana".
[C2.] Lenders Change Cuts Foreclosuress As the recession caused a sharp increase in the number of homeowners falling behind on their mortgage, lenders took a chance and significantly reduced the rate at which they repossessed homes.
Footage shows aftermath of Roscommon attack Jump to media player The attack happened at a recently repossessed house in Falsk near Strokestown in County Roscommon.
The club was presented with a winding up order in January 1902, and Bank Street was on the brink of being repossessed until they were saved at the eleventh hour by a wealthy local brewer, John Henry Davies.
