Couple returned keys and moved home to India

A COUPLE who had an order for possession granted against them yesterday had put their keys in an envelope and gone home to India, the High Court was told yesterday.

The couple had taken out a loan of €171,000 with Start Mortgages Ltd to buy a home in Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan in 2006, counsel for the lender said.

Payments were made up to June 2010 when the lender received a letter from the borrowers, an Indian couple. The letter said the husband had lost his job and they were leaving the country.

“As we are in a serious financial debt crisis we have no other option than surrendering the house,” the couple said. The keys to the property were enclosed with the letter.

Though the couple had left the property, the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears stipulated that lenders must wait 12 months from first default before taking court action, so the lender could not get a formal order for possession. Arrears now stood at €17,000, counsel for the lender said.

Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne said the case was unusual. She granted the order with a stay of execution of two months.

In a second case involving Start Mortgages, the court was told one of two borrowers had “abandoned” a property and emigrated unknown to his co-borrower. The couple had taken out the mortgage to purchase an investment property. The judge adjourned the case to allow the borrower who remained in Ireland a last chance to appear before the court.

Emigration also featured in a case involving Friends First Finance. The lender applied to Ms Justice Dunne for a well-charging order and order for sale. These orders are granted when a judgment for a debt is obtained against a borrower and the lender seeks to attach or “well-charge” the judgment on a property.

Counsel for the lender told the court the judgment was for €164,000 and the property in question also had a mortgage from the Educational Building Society worth €515,000. A recent valuation said the house was worth €420,000 and it was understood the couple had emigrated and surrendered their home to the EBS.

Ms Justice Dunne queried the point of obtaining an order for the property if it had already been surrendered and was in negative equity. She adjourned the case and told the lender to check if there was “any possibility” of getting their money.

In a case involving property in Co Sligo, Allied Irish Banks applied to renew an execution order first granted in December 2009. Counsel for the lender said the original order for possession was granted in 2008, and an execution order, granted when the stay on a possession order runs out, had followed.

The order was not given to the sheriff to allow him to seize the borrower’s property because the borrower had been in hospital.

The borrower, who was present in court, said he had suffered from vertigo, but was now much better. He would put two horses up for sale, and a US investment would yield €20,000 to put to his debt. He was also bringing out a book of poetry which he hoped would make €7,000, he told the judge.

Ms Justice Dunne agreed to renew the execution order on condition that it would not be carried out for six months.