Orders for repossession by courts reached 600 last year

MORE THAN 600 orders for possession were granted in the courts last year including 327 at the High Court, according to figures released by the Courts Service yesterday.

But numbers at the High Court may decline if an action under legislation requiring consumer repossession orders to be heard at the Circuit Court is successful.

Last year, 327 orders for possession, which allow a lender to repossess property when a borrower falls behind with mortgage repayments, were granted at the High Court. This compared to 293 in 2009.

Some 306 were granted at Circuit Courts, of which 85 per cent were residential. The numbers were slightly up on 2009 when 306 such orders were granted.

The highest number of Circuit Court repossessions nationwide was in Dublin, with 99 granted in the capital. Cork Circuit Court saw 28 cases and Limerick had 17. Both Tipperary and Meath had 14 cases each.

Monaghan Circuit Court had no repossession orders granted, Clare had one and Donegal had two.

There were 583 applications for possession orders taken at the High Court last year from which 327 were granted. The cases were taken against property owners from around the country and were heard in Dublin’s Four Courts.

Lists at the High Court have been growing longer in recent years, with for example 81 cases listed for yesterday’s session.

But there may be a shift of repossessions from High to Circuit Court if legal action under the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 is successful. The legislation was introduced by minister for justice Dermot Ahern. It came into effect from December 2009.

It states that the Circuit Court has “exclusive jurisdiction” to deal with home loans taken out by consumers. At the time, the minister said “homeowners have been less likely to be present or represented at the High Court, which, effectively, places them at a major disadvantage”. He hoped the move would encourage homeowners facing repossession orders to make their case in the Circuit Court.

It is understood a case is to be taken next week which will test the law.