Mr. Christopher Lehane:

If a person is seeking to try to get the best deal, it is effectively a doomsday situation to a bank if they are, effectively dangling the keys. To the bank, that means an instant crystallisation of the negative equity. If a person is part of a negotiation of a PIA, there is always the prospect of the person saying that if the deal is not done he or she will hand back the keys and crystallise the negative equity. Some 70% of people who go into bankruptcy are in a situation where they will not be in a position to pay the mortgage and 15% of people who have the capacity to pay the mortgage will be otherwise insolvent and will not be entitled to bankruptcy. They do not want to pay the mortgage. If the strategic defaulters are crystallising the negative equity they would obviously have other debt that would enable them to go bankrupt. There is a situation where, effectively within a PIA, people are using it as a lever to get the best deal they can. That a person uses the keys to get the best deal, is one argument. What was the converse argument the Deputy made?