Couple who owed €400,000 have house repossessed

A MOTHER-OF-FOUR whose home was repossessed at the High Court yesterday said she could not cope with the stress any more.

In tears in the courtroom, the Cork woman asked Mr Justice Brian McGovern to enforce the possession order against her family before Christmas.

The case was one of over 70 possession applications listed at the High Court yesterday, from which 12 orders were granted.

GE Capital Woodchester Home-loans Ltd, trading as GE Money, gave a loan of €336,000 to the Cork family in October 2007. The husband, who was in the construction business, lost his job and they began defaulting on repayments in January 2008. They owed the lender almost €400,000.

While her husband looked after their youngest child outside the courtroom, the woman told the court she could not go on.

“I can’t cope any more, there is just so much stress . . . I know it’s horrible to leave my home, but I need to get out,” she said.

She told the judge she and her husband had four children aged 13, 6, 4 and 18 months. She had applied to the “health board” but they would only assist her after the court case was finished. She said she could not consent to the order, but wanted the matter settled.

Mr Justice McGovern said the local council “mightn’t treat her the same way” if she consented to the order for possession. He would grant the order to the lender without her consent, he said.

Counsel for GE Money said they would be happy to offer a long stay, or delay, before enforcing the order, but the woman said they wanted to be out before Christmas. She had explained matters to her children, she said.

The judge asked counsel for the lender to ensure his client “exercised forbearance” in case there were difficulties with the council.

In all, 12 orders for possession were granted yesterday, including four to Start Mortgages Ltd, two to GE Capital, and one each to Stepstone Mortgage Funding Ltd, Secured Property Loans Ltd, Bank of Scotland (Ireland) Ltd, ACC Bank Plc, KBC Bank Ireland Plc and Nua Mortgages Ltd.