Repossession list rises by 600

Six hundred new cases for repossession of homes have come into the High Court Master’s list since early last month and most of those involve outright default of loans over a year or more.

Master of the High Court, Edmund Honohan, who prepares cases for hearing, said today he was conducting a survey on the 600 new cases which had come into his list and would be publishing the results later this year.

A pattern was emerging of arrears averaging about 10 per cent of the original loan, he noted.

He also said borrowers in difficulties should prepare for the new system being implemented under the Code of Conduct of Mortgage Arrears and he outlined some guidelines to assist them in doing so.

In court today, the Master noted, while there were 70 repossession cases in his list for the day, most such cases in the courts’ lists are being adjourned to allow borrowers to make payments as agreed with lenders following discussions.

While borrowers probably realise missing every payment over a period of a year will result in a court summons, what they don’t appreciate is that arrears do not have to be paid off prior to their resuming monthly repayments on loans.

Arrears could then be spread thinly over the period of the loan or added afterwards but such measures could be arranged only after negotiation with the lenders, he said.

Noting the Government’s recent announcement of the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears, he said the Code was being strengthened to improve the borrower’s position.

The Code was to be given clearer legal status with a new structure for case by case re-negotiation to replace the current “ad hoc procedure”.

Mortgage repayment terms will be rewritten and would be fair to both borrower and lender, he said. The borrower would have the right to have their case referred to a dedicated unit within the lender’s organisation if they felt the proposed new monthly repayment was too high.

If still unhappy after that review, the borrower could appeal to the Banking Ombudsman.