Repossession order granted after mortgage arrears hit €63,500

A repossession order has been granted against a man whose mortgage had fallen into €63,495 in arrears and who made no repayments for more than three years.

Permanent TSB was granted the order at Trim Circuit Court on Monday in the man’s absence. The court heard the man is believed to be living in the house in Navan and a six-month stay on the repossession order was granted.

County registrar Brídín Concannon heard that no payments had been made on the €240,000 mortgage between January 2014 and August 2017. The homeowner had made one payment of €730 in cash last year and one direct debit had bounced.

The owner had previously been ordered by the registrar to submit a financial statement, but this had not been done, the court heard.

There were letters on file from the bank to the owner dating to 2015 and 2016 but there had been no engagement from his side.

Ms Concannon said that in the owner’s absence, she had no option but to grant the order.

Almost 50 repossession cases were listed on Monday, including cases taken by EBS, Ulster Bank Ireland, AIB, Bank of Ireland, KBC Bank, Pepper Finance, Haven Mortgages Ltd, Mars Capital, and Start Mortgages.

Many were adjourned to allow the borrowers to engage further with the lenders, including with the support of the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (Mabs), or to look at the possibility of a personal insolvency plan.

‘Hopeless’ debt

In another case, AIB Mortgage Bank and Allied Irish Banks Plc sought an order for repossession against a woman who was in arrears of €51,556 with a total mortgage balance outstanding of €212,709. The court heard the last payment on the account was €800 in October 2014. The woman did not appear in court.

Ms Concannon said she believed the case was “ready for an order” and she adjourned it until April, directing that the bank notify the woman.

An arrears debt of €244,175 in another case was “hopeless and unsustainable”, counsel for EBS Mortgage Finance said.

The two mortgage holders were paying an amount of €250 a month, where the total payment should have been more than €2,000, the court heard.

In another case, a man had not made repayments on his mortgage for six years and was in arrears of €67,000. Start Mortgages sought a repossession order. The owner told the court he had not been well, but that he had come into an inheritance and now wanted to pay off the debt in one go.

“It’s a large sum,” he said. The court heard he was disputing the amount owed.

Counsel for the lender noted the allegation that the man had been overcharged and said this was not correct. The loan had, however, been recalculated.

‘Not cooperating’

The registrar told the man the bank was not in a position to proceed against him on Monday as it had just submitted an application changing the name of the plaintiff. If he wished to contest the proceedings, he could do so by submitting an affidavit. She gave him eight weeks to submit a standard financial statement and directed that the lender organise a meeting within 12 weeks for him to “thrash out the issue in relation to what is owing”.

Another woman before the court owed €92,497 in arrears to EBS. The court heard her former partner was in Australia and was “not cooperating”. She was therefore managing the debt on her own.

The court heard the woman had just got a new job. She said she was paying €800 per month and had “not missed a payment for years”. The total monthly payment should be €1,470, the court heard.

The registrar directed the woman to engage with a personal insolvency provider and adjourned the case until October.