Cameraman shoved to ground in heated confrontation

An A Current Affair cameraman has been caught up in a heated family feud over an unpaid mortgage.

Janice Lang agreed to put her Adelaide home on the line to give her son Brenton a chance to break into the property market.

“The Australian dream is to own your own home, we wanted to give that dream to our son," she said.

“My grandchildren are beautiful and they deserve everything, and that's all we wanted to do."

However, since going guarantor on the loan, Brenton and his partner Johannah have failed to meet their mortgage repayments for the $210,000 loan and all the expenses associated with the property.

When A Current Affair went to speak to Brenton to find out why he and his partner were not fulfilling the obligations of their loan, the father of seven lashed out at our cameraman, pushing him to the ground and damaging his camera.

Janice says Brenton and Johanna have failed to pay their rates, meaning their loan has increased by $30,000.

If the couple continues to default on the loan, Janice now fears she could lose her home.

“We were married here, we've got pets buried here, we've had so many fun times here as a family, we just love it, and we work hard for it," she said.

Janice told A Current Affair that the amount now owed is more than the value of the loan.

“It just went really bad. He wasn’t going to be happy until he saw us bankrupt," she said.

Money expert Effie Zahos says it's important parents understand their obligations before signing anything.

“When you become a guarantor, you are actually saying that I will actually step in, if you can't make these repayments, so you will become responsible for that debt," she said.

Effie believes it's important parents and their children know what it takes to pay off a home.

“It is a case of sitting down and talking with your children, if I am going to do this, it is under my conditions, these are the rules, and there are lots of legal documents that you can download or get some assistant to set up that arrangement," she said.

Janice's heartbreak serves as a valuable lesson to think twice before signing on the dotted line, says Effie.

“When it comes to asking for a guarantee, I'd be asking the lender, why don't you think my child is good enough to stand on their own two feet?” she said.

The mortgage is with the Commonwealth Bank which says it is doing everything it can to guide the family towards a resolution.

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