A Dublin couple who have not paid anything off their mortgage for the past four years have been told by a judge that in her experience, even lone parents manage to pay something off their debts.
Havbell Dac, a so-called vulture fund, is seeking to repossess the home of Pat and Freda O’Kane on Tritonville Road in Sandymount.
The Circuit Civil Court was told the couple owe almost €780,000 on a mortgage the fund took over from a bank.
Judge Jacqueline Linnane told the couple, who were in court for the repossession proceedings, that they had been living in the house since October 2015 without paying anything.
The judge said she hoped that the suggestion of the couple’s barrister that this may constitute “a reality check” for them would resonate.
Judge Linnane said the couple had the benefit of legal advice from their solicitor when they signed for a business residential loan in 2002 and again in intervening years when they increased their indebtedness.
The court, which had been told that in December 2017 the couple owed €778,522, directed that within the next month Mr O’Kane, a quantity surveyor, swear an affidavit outlining their financial position.
Judge Linnane said that in other cases where possession was being sought by banks, she inevitably learned that there were other outstanding debts.
Mr O’Kane had sought the advice of a financial adviser under the personal insolvency process but had failed to inform the bank when his relationship with that adviser ended.
The judge told the couple that the value to them of their home was being eroded. They could sell the property and afford to trade down mortgage free to a smaller property.
She said that irrespective of any issue raised by the two defendants there was an undisputed default in repayments on their mortgage.
The court also allowed Havbell Dac time to reply to Mr O’Kane’s affidavit and suggested the court would be in a position to have a full hearing on the application for possession by October next.