MORTGAGE LENDERS have been granted possession of 10 homes and investment properties, as the number of repossession orders granted at the High Court’s weekly chancery summonses hearing continues at record levels.
Fugitive solicitor Michael Lynn was among the people who lost possession of a residential investment property at yesterday’s hearing.
Bank of Scotland (Ireland) had taken an action against Mr Lynn aimed at recovering possession of a property located in a Co Cork holiday complex.
Counsel for the financial institution said the solicitor, who was struck off the roll of solicitors last year and ordered to pay €2 million in fines to the Law Society, owed nearly quarter of a million euros in arrears.
The court also heard that the total amount owed by Mr Lynn was €827, 261.39, with interest of €69.82 accruing on a daily basis.
Granting an order of possession with one month’s stay, Mr Justice Roderick Murphy also heard that advertisements had been placed in The Irish Times and Portuguese newspaper the Algarve Resident in an attempt to serve notice on Mr Lynn.
In other cases, Start Mortgages was granted possession of five properties at yesterday’s hearing, three of which were owned by the same person.
The court heard how the defendant drew down €218,000 in December 2006 to buy three apartments.
Mortgage repayments for one of the apartments ceased less than a year later in November 2007, while mortgage repayments for the other two apartments stopped in March 2008.
As a result, arrears in excess of €30,000 had accrued.
In another case involving Start, a possession order was granted against a Co Westmeath property, after arrears of €25,863.93 had accrued.
Counsel for the plaintiff said the defendant had contacted the mortgage lender several times between July 2008 and October of that year to say refinancing was imminent.
However, no repayments had been received on the loan since June 2008, despite a “last chance” warning letter being sent. The judge granted a stay of three months on the order.
Start were also granted possession of a Co Wicklow property, after the homeowner fell into arrears of €22,644.37. A stay of five months was granted.
Sixty-one cases were listed before Mr Justice Murphy at yesterday’s hearing, 24 of which were taken by Start mortgages.
A further 11 applications were brought by KBC Bank, formerly IIB homeloans, while other banks seeking possession orders included GE Capital Woodchester, ACC Bank, AIB, Bank of Ireland Mortgage Bank, Irish Life and Permanent and Irish Nationwide.
Thirty-three new cases were listed, most of which were adjourned to give the defendants “one last chance” to come to an agreement with the lender or make proposals on repayments.
In one case which was adjourned, Bank of Ireland sought possession of a Co Waterford property purchased in 2006 for €3.9 million.
Counsel for the bank told the court that a loan of €2.5 million was drawn down in July 2006, to be repaid in monthly instalments over 25 years.
In March 2008, the monthly repayments which totalled nearly €12,000 a month stopped, and arrears of €207,970 accrued on the loan, with the total outstanding balance now at €2,645. 479.
The court heard how the defendant had auctioned off the entire contents of the house in November 2008 and that the house now lay vacant.
The case was adjourned for two weeks.