Man who blocked sheriff paid bank just 1.5% back

A MAN in Dundalk who blocked his eviction from an apartment he owns has paid a bank just a small percentage of money owing since a repossession order was granted.

Eugene Dooley blocked his eviction by the sheriff in Louth this month and had paid Permanent TSB 1.5 per cent of the combined monthly mortgage payments arising since the repossession order of June 2011.

In addition, Mr Dooley has made no payment on arrears that arose since regular payment ceased, according to PTSB.

PTSB said Mr Dooley had refused it permission to discuss details of the money he owes. It said it had had more than 50 engagements with Mr Dooley since arrears first arose on the account in October 2008.

It said he made commitments on various payments of his choosing but “repeatedly failed to honour those commitments”.

As arrears grew, Mr Dooley rented the property out to tenants but still failed to make the monthly repayments, PTSB said.

“The bank only considers forced repossessions of properties in extreme cases and unfortunately this case falls into that category,” it added.

In a report by The Irish Times on September 12th last, Mr Dooley acknowledged he had “substantial arrears” on his mortgage, which was stated to be €220,000.

Mr Dooley co-founded a group called the Anti-Eviction Taskforce in Dundalk some weeks ago.