Australia: Families hit by rising bankruptcies and home repossessions

Debtland opened with a scene from a family home in Kellyville, one of Sydneys north-western mortgage belt suburbs. Dianne Davies and her two young children are cleaning in preparation for their eviction in two days. With Diane and her husband Kevin unable to keep up with scheduled mortgage repayments, their home is to be auctioned off in a fire sale by their creditors. They have nowhere to go. With a record shortage of rental accommodation in Sydney, and the familys bad credit history, Dianne and Kevin have been unable to find another place to live. Four Corners showed the couple discussing the possibility of moving into a shelter with their children.

After locking up their home and handing over the keys, the Davies were permitted to stay in the double garage until the repossession auction, which would determine whether they could clear their debts of about $650,000. Ive had enough now, Dianne said. All I want is my own place to live in and just so I dont actually have to come home every day and stay here and see my house empty. It upsets me and Ill cry and then Ill stop and then Ill cry. And the kids are pretty similar actually. Charlie goes up and goes to the door and says, you know, I wanna go inside. And I say, you cant, its not our house any more.

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