Family told to leave home as ‘free lunch is over’

A woman has opposed a fund's bid for High Court orders requiring herself, her ill husband, their son and his partner to leave a Dublin property they do not own but consider to be their family home.

Maria, otherwise Mariah, Isabel Dias, otherwise Harvey, says she wants to buy the six bedroom property at 1-2 Phibsborough Road and is prepared to pay the “market rate” of €475,000 for it but Havbell Designated Activity Company is refusing to engage with her.

The fund’s “illogical and bizarre” behaviour was the reason her 74-year-old husband suffered a stroke immediately after an earlier court hearing, she believed.

Anthony Thuillier, for Havbell, said it owns the property which, it claims, Ms Dias and members of her family have enjoyed rent free over three years.

It was never a principal private residence, the “free lunch is over” and it is entitled to vacant possession, counsel said. The fund also believes the property was from around 2015 offered for rent on the Airbnb website and Ms Dias profited from that, he added.

Ms Dias disputes that and says three young women from France, Italy and Mexico whom an agent for the fund spoke to during an unannounced visit were guests of the family and friends of her son Marvin, an FAI “champion” who also played soccer for Costa Rica.

She said in affidavits she entered tenancy agreements from mid 2014 with the original owner of the property, John Rooney, paid rent to him for some 13 months and offered to pay rent to the fund but it refused her offer. She also claims she had an option under agreements to buy the property for €350,000 on foot of which she had spent between €50-80,000 on renovating and improving the property.

Her counsel Vincent P Martin argued on Tuesday she has an equitable claim concerning the property and he urged Ms Justice Caroline Costello not to grant the injunctions requiring the family to leave. His clients were "innocent victims" in circumstances where they understood they had an option to buy the property.

There was delay by the fund and abuse of process due to its failure to progress earlier Circuit Court proceedings for possession, he argued. A valuation indicated, if the family was evicted, a lack of goodwill would mean the property would be sold for less than the €475,000 being offered by Ms Dias and there were issues whether the fund was entitled to sell at a loss.

Mr Thuillier said the fund acquired a €2.3m loan by PTSB to the property’s former owner, John Rooney, of Windermere, Myrtleville, Crosshaven, Co Cork, which was charged on the Phibsborough property.

Ms Dias and her family are “trespassers” who had paid just one month’s rent since 2015 to Mr Rooney who voluntarily surrendered possession of the property to PTSB in May 2015, he said. A purported lease between Ms Dias and Mr Rooney was a “business letting lease” and was invalid because PTSB was not informed of and had not consented to that, he said.

Counsel said Mr Rooney advised PTSB in May 2015 there was a “tenant” in the property named Isabella Maria Diaz (sic) who had been there for 18 months, he had given her a notice to vacate abut January 2015, she ignored that and had not paid rent for some months and previously entered into a three year lease with him.

The fund claims a language school previously operated at the premises but went into liquidation and Mr Rooney appeared to replace that school as a tenant with Ms Dias who had carried out some window repairs in lieu of rent.

When estate agents inspected the property in July 2015 for the fund, the locks had been changed and the keys provided by Mr Rooney were no use, counsel said.

Ms Dias had made out no bona fide issue to be tried entitling the court to refuse possession, he argued. The fund wanted to sell the property for the market rate and Ms Dias could bid for it along with other interested parties.

Ms Justice Costello has reserved judgment.