Eviction Threat for Family of Eight as Debt Fund Calls for Unaffordable Payments
The Canary Island platform Derecho a Techo has urged local authorities to halt the eviction of a family from Ingenio (Gran Canaria) with six children, who are at risk of losing their home. The family fell behind on their mortgage payments during the pandemic after the head of the household lost his job. Even with a combined income of €1,800, they are unable to meet the demands of the debt fund that purchased their mortgage.
Family Faces Eviction
Moisés Macías and his wife face the prospect of homelessness if their eviction is carried out this Thursday, as they have been unable to find an affordable rental that can accommodate their six children aged three to thirteen.
In a press conference before the Government of the Canary Islands, Macías highlighted that he is simply asking for “help” to find a home that he can afford with his salary of €1,200 and a disability pension of €600, in what he described as a “desperate” situation.
This family has turned to the Derecho al Techo organisation to try and stop the imminent eviction scheduled for Thursday while exploring potential options for affordable rental housing to prevent being left without a roof over their heads.
Concerns About Children
“Social Services have told me that if I don’t have shelter for my children, they will take them away and place them in institutional care,” lamented the supermarket worker, who expressed feeling “devastated.”
Macías revealed that he purchased his home in 2006 and managed to pay the mortgage for 14 years until his wife lost her job just months before the COVID-19 pandemic, which made finding new employment extremely challenging. With income solely from a disability pension and unemployment benefits, the couple stopped paying their mortgage. “We had to choose, and my children come first,” he added.
Debt Fund’s Demands
Now that they have regained employment and are ready to settle the debt, the fund that purchased their loan from the bank is demanding 86% of the price they paid for the house nearly two decades ago, without accounting for the 14 years of payments already made.
“I don’t refuse to pay, but I ask everyone for help because we only have the housing issue, and if I’m evicted on Thursday, where will I go?” he queried. “I just ask that the eviction order be paused, to allow me more time to find an affordable place to live with my children. I am a hardworking person, working day and night to ensure my children lack nothing.”
Legal Action
Isabel Saavedra, a lawyer from Derecho al Techo, explained that they have requested a court to stop the eviction instigated by “the vulture fund Promontoria Yellowstone, which is set to evict Moisés, his wife, and their six children.”
“We are waiting for the court to tell us something today or tomorrow, as there isn’t much time left, but right now there is no alternative housing available for Moisés,” she lamented, noting that he has been searching for accommodation since he was notified of the eviction in June.
“There has been no way to find a house for a family of eight that they can afford,” Saavedra emphasised. They met with the Government of the Canary Islands and the Housing Institute, “who are indeed responsible for providing them with housing alternatives.”
The Derecho al Techo platform calls for “all support” to halt this eviction, stressing that Moisés’s case is not unique, as “there are many more in the Canary Islands; some are visible while others are not, because families sometimes hide out of shame.”
In the Canary Islands, the lawyer reported, “there are people living in cars, caravans, and shanties, because there is not a single public or affordable home left on this island.”
In this regard, she reiterated her appeal to institutions to address this situation as “they are responsible for facilitating that right.”
