A leading medical doctor has washed his hands of a €1.6 million investment property he bought with his wife just before the property slump.
Dr Samuel van Eeden and Zelda van Eeden bought the house, close to their home in Malahide, Co Dublin, at the peak of the boom and have agreed to hand the property back to the bank.
County registrar Susan Ryan was told yesterday that the van Eedens, of Knockdara, Seamount Road, had consented to AIB Mortgage Bank repossessing the property at Seamount Heights.
Dr van Eeden is medical director of the Malahide Medical Centre and Arte Novi Clinic, which provides medical surgical and non-invasive cosmetic services at Kilronan House, Church Road, Malahide.
He personally presents an internet promotion video for the clinic detailing cosmetic treatments available to the general public.
Barrister Ciaran Mandal, counsel for the bank, told Ms Ryan that the van Eedens had agreed to the court making an order for possession by consent with a stay for six weeks.
Ms Ryan was told AIB Mortgage Bank, Ballsbridge, had in February 2007 advanced the van Eedens €1,650,000 to be repaid by progressively increasing monthly instalments ranging from €5,600 to just under €11,000.