Today is International Women’s Day but today I’m an Angry Bird!

To me, International Women’s Day is all about celebrating how far women have come, their potential and the joys of collaborating with other women to create a better world for us to work and play in.

Yet even before 10am I find myself angered by the actions of other women.

I have to question why women feel so intimidated by other women that the only way they can respond to them is through underhand methods, bullying and intimidation.  I know that I’m not the only one of my peers to have been treated this way recently.  One thing I will say about men is that if they have a problem with another man they let him know about it.  Both parties know exactly where they stand and that’s it.  Why do women feel the need to be two-faced, malicious and spiteful?

I believe it comes from a place of deep insecurity in the perpetrator who rather than face her own fears and insecurities chooses to belittle and undermine the very person she is in awe of and if only she’d be open and honest about it, would probably be able to have that very person as a mentor. A classic case of cutting off your nose to spite your face!

And whilst I’m on that topic, we’re looking to move house.  As I’m a discharged bankrupt I’m unable to get a mortgage for another couple of years so we are looking to rent.  We want somewhere larger as we are now outgrowing the little flat I moved into on my own just as soon as I became discharged from my bankrupty.

Now, I understood back then and still understand now, that as I had and have a bad credit report that I would need a guarantor in order to rent the property on my own. However, now that we are looking to rent together it would seem that I am still required to provide a guarantor despite the fact that my income will not be taken into consideration when it comes to paying the rent.  That’s a tad annoying but what was worse was being told, by the female Estate Agent “If you’re a discharged bankrupt we can’t allow you to view the property”!!!

Yes, you read that correctly.  Needless to say I stood my ground and we are viewing the property but it amazes me the ignorance that exists around bankruptcy.

I’m scheduled to speak at a couple of events later this month and the organiser, after agreeing to pay me for speaking (after all, that is one of the ways in which I earn an income) contacted me to say they won’t be paying me! Their reason “it’s not appropriate to pay someone who’s been bankrupt to talk about it. It would send the wrong message”!!!

Well, excuse me, but in my experience, it’s not illegal for a bankrupt (discharged or otherwise) to view or rent a property or to earn a living.

I will be viewing the property and I will do the talks I’m scheduled to do – with that attitude the students I’m talking to need to understand how unrealistic the views of their lecturers and college managers are and how out-moded their teaching is.

My argument has always been, as a discharged bankrupt I have no intention of going through that hell again. I have no credit and no debt, I only spend what I can afford and I budget far better than most business owners, employees and anyone else I know. I have just as much right as anyone else to live in a property that is suitable for the needs of my family, the fact that rent payments are far, far greater than mortgage payments and I have been paying rent for some 2 – 3 years shows that I am capable of meeting a mortgage repayment.  I am a far safer risk.  Before I became discharged the more money I earned, the more disposable income I had. That disposable income was taken off me by my administrators to repay my creditors.  I’ve repaid my debt and am being penalised because of it.  I continuously have to pay more as I am now no longer in ‘the system’.

It’s ironic that the most needy areas of society, the low-paid, the unemployed etc are the very parts of society that can’t get a mortgage. So they continue to be penalised by high rates of rent (which are often double what the mortgage repayment would be). Because they are on low-income or benefits they continuously have to budget, economise and often go without and are unable to contribute fully to the economy because they have no disposable income.

I’m just thinking out loud here but I wonder what savings would be made in housing benefit, what improvements would be made to the economy if the whole system was shaken up just a bit?

A mortgage is generally taken out over 25 years. Most mortgagees don’t ever intend to default on their repayments but sometimes life happens. Likewise, the majority of tenants sign up to a rental agreement never intending to default on their payments.  However, with tenants, if their payments get too difficult to meet they can always look to downsize, usually within a 6 month period. A mortgagee however, can only downsize when they’ve sold their house so their debt increases, their stress increased and the likelihood of them becoming bankrupt looms ever closer.

Like everything, there will always be people who abuse whatever system is in place, there will always be people who seemingly have no conscience but the reality is that they are in the minority.

I believe that the majority of people really do want to work and pay their own way and create a better future for themselves, their children and their community.

What if?

What if anyone could take out a mortgage if they could provide proof of repayment ability?

What if they had a mortgage review every year to ensure they could still meet their repayments?

What if those people on benefits could come off benefits and feel some self-worth through owning their own home and living without the ‘help’ of ‘the system’?

What if it actually could work??