some good advice here but most posts are just knocking me anyway. i don't want sympathy but some useful advice would be really grateful. Instead, most posts makes me feel crap...yes i know I should have done that but I couldn't.
I appreciate some of the replies. I will take leave now...it's scary. SS isn't what it used to be. It seems no one has similar experiences to share or possibly too embarrassed to share? or even a friend's experience. One or two posts can just totally ruin it..
Sue,
I don't know whether you'll end up reading this or not, but if you're after advice then here's what I have. I don't guarantee you'll like it, but here goes...
1.
Accept responsibility for the default. Defaulting on a loan is not the same as choosing to take a payment holiday. In what you've said to date I honestly can't see what Westpac has done wrong - you've defaulted, they're interested in return of their capital and you've committed that capital to them upon sale of the property.
I see the further error here in you assuming that once that's done you can go along your merry way and the bank will just forget that you've defaulted and consider you a gold star customer with no further consequences. So whilst you've said...
I should not have a bad credit rating and they should not be thinking I'm about to go bankrupt and treating me like this
the bank is well within their rights to see it differently, especially when you said...
last year, I had defaults because a loan had come off a fixed term and the direct debit stopped
If someone who has multiple defaults in the last couple of years is not a bad credit risk, who should be classified a bad credit risk?
2.
Understand the implications for your credit file. Do this and do it now. Visit
www.mycreditfile.com.au and understand exactly what has been lodged against your credit record. It helps you understand exactly what your range of options is in terms of refinancing. If it hasn't yet been tarnished (unlikely but you never know), do everything in your power to keep it that way.
3.
Acknowledge responsibility for the default. Go to your bank manager. Do not participate in "blamestorming". Acknowledge your role in the mess you've found yourself and openly discuss your options with the bank now that you're "credit impaired". Be realistic in expecting that there may not be many that you find appealing.
4.
Identify the causes of the situation you're in. Be completely honest with yourself. Do not put it down to "bad luck" or "victim of circumstance". Why is cashflow so tight that you can't manage it? Very few people are in the situation where they genuinely have exhausted all other options.
From your posts, I'd hazard a guess that there's some obvious risk management strategies that others in a similar situation may employed that you did not. But I'm not the one to judge that. If you're not completely honest then you'll continue to be the "victim".
5.
Work out a plan to rectify the cause of the situation you're in. If you don't, chances are you'll find yourself back in this situation eventually. Develop a budget that means you'll meet your obligations first and live your life second. Stick to that budget.
Look at the assets you have at your disposal, big and small, and decide whether you are utilising them to the best of their ability. Be completely honest about it. Look at your cashflows big and small.
6.
Look at refinancing options to ease short term cash flow concerns. Assuming your credit file means you can find something suitable. If you've already burnt too many bridges then consider alternate funding options, but be aware of and fully budget the costs and only go down this path if you are capable of managing it. HOWEVER...
7.
Acknowledge and accept that refinancing is only a short term option. The default was a symptom, not an illness. Whatever the cause of the illness is, refinancing may only delay the inevitable unless you properly treat the cause.
I don't intend this to be a "suck it up sweetheart!" type post. I went through a period of really tight cashflows in the early 90s, so I'm feeling your pain. For me, I was spending more than I was earning and not great at sticking to a budget. Bad combination, but at least I acknowledged the problem and looked to fix it. I packed off a trailer load of stuff to the pawn shop (no ebay back then), moved out of my PPOR and rented it out for six months whilst I lived in a caravan instead. Hopefully your solution is not so extreme (but equally I made those hard decisions prior to going into default, not after).
Good luck Sue (and I think you WILL need at least some luck to ride this through). Given the stress you've gone through recently, maybe you should think about putting property investing on the backburner for a little while (acknowledging that even if YOU decide you want to continue with it in the next couple of years, the banks may make that decision for you)...
Gremlin
His lvr is <80%. 
