A DESERTED woman with four children from Co Meath was among eight people who had possession orders granted against them at the High Court yesterday.
Two credit unions also obtained orders allowing them to sell the property of borrowers in debt.
Start Mortgages told the High Court that a couple from Ashbourne had remortgaged their home with a loan of €320,000 in 2006. They fell behind with their payments and now owed arrears of more than €80,000.
The woman had written to the lender in April 2011 to explain she was alone with her four children and “her husband was missing”. She offered to pay €700 a month, but the offer was rejected as the repayments were €2,475.
Counsel for the woman told the court he had received no instruction from her since the last court date. She had told him previously she had applied for a mortgage-to-rent scheme, although she had not been approved.
Miss Justice Elizabeth Dunne said she had to make an order for possession. She put a six-month stay on the mortgage as the property was a family home.
Halston Street Credit Union in Dublin city centre sought an order for sale of a property in Wexford against a man who owed it more than €80,000.
The man, who represented himself in court, said he and his wife lived in the property in Wexford valued at €160,000. He said he had applied for legal aid, but had not yet been granted it.
He denied a suggestion by counsel for the credit union that he did not live in the Wexford property but actually lived in a house in Tallaght where he had answered the door to officers of the lender. That property belonged to his son, he said.
Miss Justice Dunne said she accepted his son owned the property and that he and his wife “spent time” in Wexford and it could be their family home, but “on a practical basis” it did not change his debt. “Where are we going to live, myself and my wife?” the man asked.
The judge put a stay of execution on the order for sale and gave the man six months to reach some arrangement with the lender.
Roscrea Credit Union also obtained orders for sale yesterday for agricultural land in Tipperary.
Counsel for Roscrea said two members of the same family had borrowed €400,000 and €900,000 and the land sought was worth €120,000 and €275,000.
“The credit union is very eager to start recouping some of the money for the benefit of its members,” counsel said.
Granting the orders, Ms Justice Dunne gave a stay of three months to allow the borrowers an opportunity to sell their properties.
