COURT ACTIONS linked to business and company difficulties have increased by about 50 per cent for the first three quarters of the year.
According to figures obtained from the Courts Service, proceedings under the Companies Acts, Revenue and special summonses and issues such as breaches of contract, possessions and specific performance of contract have gone up from 5,005 between January 1st and October 31st, 2007, to 7,523 in the same period this year.
Under the Companies Acts, winding up petitions have increased from 104 to 175 and examinerships from 17 to 28, while applications to restore companies that resolved their difficulties fell from 179 to 121.
The combined number of companies in such difficulties which creditors sought to be wound up or placed in receivership was 203 in the first 10 months of the year, compared with 121 last year.
Revenue summonses went up from 674 to 881, and summary summonses from 1,876 to 3,033. These are sought when money is owed and not being paid and the lender, usually a financial institution, is seeking judgment from the court. If it is unopposed, the judgment is issued summarily rather than going to a full hearing.
The increase in Revenue summonses reflects the difficulties some firms may have in paying debts to the Revenue Commissioners on time. There was a similar increase in possessions, where financial institutions seek possession of a property on which they lent money. These rose from 289 in the first 10 months of 2007 to 579 this year.
The crisis in the building sector is also reflected. There were 655 cases involving alleged breaches of contract, compared with 463 in the same period in 2007. While they may not all be related to the building industry, there is anecdotal evidence that these difficulties are arising more frequently in relation to the sale of land, where prices agreed earlier now look inflated to purchasers.
Chancery injunctions went up from 289 in the first 10 months of 2007 to 463 in the same period in 2008, though chancery declarations fell slightly from 448 to 387. Chancery injunctions relate to business activities which the applicant is seeking to stop. The Commercial Court saw an increase in cases brought to it from 132 in the first 10 months of 2007 to 165 in the same period this year.