ACC gets €4.2m from sale of missing solicitor's house

A SETTLEMENT yesterday of part of the legal proceedings to decide how the €4.7 million proceeds of the sale of missing solicitor Michael Lynn’s proposed family home in Howth, Co Dublin, are to be distributed means ACC Bank plc will get the bulk of the money, more than €4.2 million.

Under the settlement, Mr Lynn’s wife Bríd Murphy (34) has also succeeded in greatly reducing her potential €11 million liabilities to various banks over loans for the purchase of the house.

Yesterday’s outcome means ACC, which was accepted to have a prior claim arising from a €3.8 million mortgage granted for the purchase of Glenlion House, will get more than €4.2 million of the proceeds, leaving Ms Murphy, Bank of Scotland Ireland and others to fight over the remaining estimated €450,000.

At one point, Ms Murphy was facing claims for some €11 million over three separate loans for the purchase of Glenlion House, Thormanby Road, obtained from ACC, BOSI and Irish Nationwide Building Society in early 2007. Each bank had lent sums of about €3.8 million.

The house was bought for €5.5 million but sold earlier this year to meet some of Mr Lynn’s estimated €80 million liabilities.

Ms Murphy claimed her husband conducted all financial dealings for the house, that her signature was forged on certain loan documents, that she was aware only of the loan from Bank of Scotland Ireland and that she had no liability to the other two banks.

She also claimed any liability by her to BOSI was limited to any money which might be secured by her in the proceedings with ACC Bank because of alleged negligence by BOSI in not carrying out proper checks before lending money to her husband, including checks which would have established that he had not met repayments on previous loans.

The settlement of her case relating to ACC Bank involved the bank accepting that Ms Murphy has a 50 per cent interest in Glenlion but Ms Murphy also accepting the bank has an equitable charge over that interest.

The effect of declarations to that effect made by Ms Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan, with the agreement of both sides, means Ms Murphy is likely to receive, at best, no more than €450,000 from the sale of Glenlion.

However, whether or not Ms Murphy actually receives any money is dependent on the claims by BOSI relating to Glenlion.

Ms Justice Finlay Geoghegan yesterday exercised her power under Commercial Court rules to order that the sides consider mediation of that dispute.

Yesterday’s settlement means that the €3.78 million lent by the bank for the purchase of Glenlion is to be paid to ACC from the € 4.7 million net proceeds of the sale of Glenlion. That deduction left a surplus of some €900,000 to be halved between Mr Lynn and Ms Murphy given the 50 per cent interest held by each in Glenlion.

Of that surplus, ACC accepted that she could have half of that sum but that in turn is subject to Bank of Scotland’s claims. ACC claimed half of the €900,000 on the basis of other loans made to Mr Lynn and the judge granted a declaration to that effect.

Ms Murphy (34) was in court yesterday and appeared happy with the outcome of the proceedings, reached after talks during the morning between the sides.