Abused Sydney mum on the cusp of losing her family home amid interest rate hikes

A Sydney mum and domestic violence victim has revealed an eye-watering $173,000 mortgage repayment deficit as homeowners were hit with yet another interest rate hike.

The bank will likely soon repossess the Sydney mum’s family home. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

A Sydney mum and domestic violence victim has revealed she’s “days away” from repossession, having missed an eye-watering $173,000 in mortgage repayments.

Evelyn* has been stuck in a physically and financially abusive relationship and as a result she has been unable to pay back her home loan.

To make her situation even more untenable, the rising interest rates have increased her payments considerably and she is now drowning in debt.

Evelyn has no idea whether or when the bank will repossess her home as her husband has kept her in the dark over the family’s financial affairs.

“I would assume it is days away (because we are) $173,000 in arrears, the banks aren’t that nice,” the beleaguered mother, 41, told news.com.au.

Her husband, whom she shares a child with, squandered her life savings with his gambling addiction while her son was a newborn.

Then he took out loans in her name. When this descended into arguments, he became violent.

She eventually had to flee the house with her child.

He remains in the house while she is losing money every week to rent.

The bank will likely soon repossess the Sydney mum’s family home. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

Evelyn has been married to her husband for nearly a decade but their case is currently before the courts.

While their relationship was still going strong, the pair pooled their assets together and purchased a house in the NSW capital, prior to the birth of their baby.

“I had savings, he didn’t at the time. I had about $30,000 and we used that and his parents’ house as a guarantee,” she explained.

Evelyn knew her husband had suffered from a gambling addiction in the past. He even admitted to losing a house through a bet.

This time around, however, he assured her he was recovered and it would never happen again.

“It was all good. Until the baby arrived,” Evelyn said.

She was shocked to find her husband distancing himself from her and the child, and disappearing for long stretches at a time.

He then lost his job and made her go back to work within three months of having their child in order to fund his addiction.

The problem gambler even removed his parents’ home as guarantor on the house to protect their assets.

Soon he had drained their shared account and then maxxed out all their credit cards.

Later, Evelyn learned he had taken out loans in her name.

He would also transfer his winnings into their son’s account, but several months later would descend back into gambling and take the money back.

Evelyn has been stuck in a violent and financially controlling relationship.

At this point determined to remove herself and her child from her husband’s influence, Evelyn knuckled down to save a cache of money to escape.

“It took me a long time, I saved for about year to leave, we spent days and days fighting,” she said.

She finally managed to score herself a rental, leaving her husband in their home.

For the past three years, neither of them has paid down on the house.

The property’s water and electricity has also been cut off, although her husband continues to live there.

Their mortgage is on a variable rate, meaning the 12 mostly back-to-back interest rate hikes in the past year have hit particularly hard.

“The mortgage is about $5000 a month. Yesterday’s increase is going to blow that out of the water,” Evelyn added.

Carly Woods, pictured, spoke to Evelyn on a podcast raising awareness about financial abuse.

Evelyn has appeared on a podcast to raise awareness about the red flags in relationships and to warn others.

The podcast was launched by Carly Woods, from GetMyRefund, called ‘Financial Survival Stories’ as a tool to help people, particularly women, across Australia.

Ms Woods says she sees many people coming out of relationships with a lack of financial literacy or with a lot of debt to their name.

“Follow your gut,” Ms Woods said.

“Leaving a financially abusive relationship is not always easy and can be a complex process, but it is essential to take action to protect your financial security and wellbeing.

“Seek professional help: Contact local domestic violence shelters, financial counsellors, or legal services for assistance. There are professionals that can help individuals leave abusive relationships and can provide support and resources, not only to protect your wellbeing in case of further harm but to help you protect your finances.”

Fiona Guthrie, the CEO of Financial Counselling Australia, previously told news.com.au that nearly half her clients are affected by family violence.

The two most common types of economic exploitation she comes across is the abuser draining all the money from their spouse, like in Evelyn’s case, or rendering their partner financially dependent by forcing them out of work, usually to raise children, making it near impossible for the victim to leave the relationship.

“The scary thing about this form of family violence is that it often continues long after a relationship finishes,” Ms Guthrie said.

“Not having access to your own money, that’s a quite well known red flag,” she explained.

“There’s nothing the matter with having joint bank accounts, a lot of people do that, but not having access to any of your own money at all even in a healthy relationship, it’s something to put in place right from the word go.”

Evelyn says she is in conversation with her bank’s domestic violence team to figure out her next steps regarding the mortgage.

*Name withheld for privacy concerns.