SOME 10 properties were repossessed at the High Court yesterday, including the home of a couple who had put their life savings into building a new house, but could not raise enough money to finish it.
The Co Kerry couple had taken out a loan of €79,000 with Start Mortgages Ltd in 2007 to help build a retirement property for themselves. However, the following year they began to have difficulty meeting the repayments and now owed arrears of over €26,000.
Counsel for the couple said they had rented a property while they waited for their new home to be built. They had sought additional funds from the lender to finish the build, but had been refused and so could not move in. If they could have completed the work, they would not have needed to pay any more rent, and might have managed to deal with the mortgage.
Counsel for the lender said that at every drawdown of the loan the couple’s engineer had said the payment was sufficient for the job. The couple had been in arrears since February 2008.
Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne granted the order for possession with a stay of execution of six months.
In a separate case taken by Start Mortgages, a couple who owed arrears of just over €12,000 lost their home in Co Wexford.
They had borrowed €60,000 in 2006, and topped up their mortgage in 2007 with a €29,000 loan. The last time the case was before the court, in November, the husband appeared and agreed to engage an auctioneer to sell the family home. Counsel for the lender said they received a call from the man last week who asked if the lender would agree to the sale of the property at a “particular price”, but this was “not acceptable”.
The man did not appear in court yesterday.
Ms Justice Dunne noted the amount of arrears was “relatively small”, but said the man had not appeared to explain why he had not done what he told the court he would do. She granted the order with a stay of six months.
In a case involving ACC Bank, the court was told a couple borrowed over €360,000 to buy an investment property in Deansgrange, Co Dublin. They had since separated, and court documents showed the wife had written to the lender.
She said that at the time the loan was taken out she “went along” with her husband’s request to sign documents, but she never contributed to the mortgage or had keys to the property.
Describing herself as a single parent of two daughters, she said she was working reduced hours, had very limited means and lived in rented accommodation.
She was “perfectly happy” for the lender to take possession, but she was hoping they would agree not to pursue her for the balance of any money owed. The lender did not agree.
Counsel for ACC Bank said they had warned the woman possible summary proceedings could follow for the balance of the debt.
The court was told her husband was “not traceable”.
Ms Justice Dunne granted the order for possession with a stay of two months.
