Mitchell O’Brien: The quiet revolutionary

Personal insolvency practitioner Mitchell O’Brien believes that debt for equity is the answer for those in mortgage arrears. And his view is gaining ground in the courts, and even with the most stubborn lenders

Mitchell O’Brien, Personal Insolvency Practitioner: ‘We saw the tracker thing 12 months before it went public’ Picture: Dylan Vaughan

Meet Mitchell O’Brien: part lawyer, part accountant, part banker, part psychologist. At least, that is how he describes his job as one of the busiest and most successful personal insolvency practitioners (PIPs) in the country.

For four years, he has worked to resuscitate the financial lives of those who have been sucked into the quicksand of personal debt. His is the messy boom-and-bust world of mortgage arrears, negative equity and interest rate scandals ...