Bank to repossess house bought with false details

AN ORDER for possession was granted at the High Court yesterday for a house suspected of being used as a cannabis factory.

Bank of Scotland (Ireland) Ltd applied to repossess the bungalow after the bank discovered the mortgage on it had been given to a man who had used a false name, false passport and false PPS number.

Counsel for the bank told Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne the man had applied for a mortgage of €380,000 in June 2008 on a Co Meath property.

The bank had accepted his identity and approved his mortgage. The sale of the property had gone through, and the bank had provided the money, but when the bank tried to register the property in the name of the 36-year-old applicant, it discovered he did not exist. On examination, his PPS number and passport were found to be false and the evidence of his earnings was fabricated. In November 2008, gardaí raided the house and discovered what appeared to be a cannabis factory.

The Criminal Assets Bureau subsequently confirmed to the bank the true identity of the man who made the false application.

The court was told there were criminal proceedings pending against the man to be heard next January and he was out on bail. No repayments had been made on the mortgage and arrears of over €20,000 had accumulated. The bank was now owed €406,000, the court heard.

Ms Justice Dunne made an order for possession of the property and said a stay of execution would be “pointless”, given the circumstances.

In a case involving Stepstone Mortgage Funding Ltd, the court was told the lender had made numerous attempts to come to an arrangement with a Longford couple who had three children.

They had borrowed over €200,000 in November 2007 at a 10.2 per cent interest rate and first defaulted in April 2008.

The husband was an operative who lost his job in December 2008 and though the couple had agreed to various arrangements with the lender, they were unable to keep up repayments.

Arrears of almost €18,000 had accumulated and the house had been abandoned. It was believed the family was living in the UK.

Ms Justice Dunne granted the order and noted the family now owed over €223,000, more than the original mortgage.

“This seems to be a common feature in a lot of the cases coming before the court at the moment,” she said.

A total of eight orders for possession were granted at the High Court yesterday. Start Mortgages Ltd got five and Stepstone, Bank of Ireland and Bank of Scotland received one order each.