Animals left in fields halted sheriff's ability to seize land

THE COUNTY sheriff in Carlow was unable to repossess farmland because the landowner had left cattle and horses on it, the High Court was told yesterday.

An order for possession was granted against a farmer in 2004 after he failed to pay a debt to the plaintiff but the land, the subject of the order, has not yet been seized. Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne granted just one order for possession yesterday, to Bank of Ireland, in what was a quiet day for the usually busy Chancery Summonses hearings.

She refused to renew an execution order against a Co Carlow farmer until he was given time to consult his solicitor. An execution order allows a sheriff to seize land or buildings the subject of an order for possession once any stay, or postponement, has run out.

The order for possession had been granted in December 2004 with a six-month stay to allow the defendant time to sell some land to pay off a debt, but the sale had not taken place and the plaintiff “had not received a penny”.

Counsel for the plaintiff said when the stay ran out, he had obtained an execution order and lodged it with the county sheriff.

The sheriff had attempted to enforce the order and seize the land, but was unable to because it was occupied by cattle and horses.

“The order was returned to me, it was out of date,” counsel said.

He argued it was not his client’s fault the order had not been executed. He had contacted the Department of Agriculture for advice, but it had not been forthcoming. He wanted a renewal of the order.

The defendant told the court his circumstances had improved and he had tried to contact the plaintiff to come to some arrangement, but was not successful.

Ms Justice Dunne agreed to a brief adjournment of the case to allow the defendant time to take legal advice, but warned him the issue had not disappeared.

In a case involving Start Mortgages Ltd, Ms Justice Dunne criticised the lack of information contained in a mortgage application form filled in by the borrower. She refused to grant an order for possession of the house involved in Limerick. Counsel for Start Mortgages said the property was rundown and appeared to be vacant.

Notice of the proceedings had been served against the borrower by attaching the notice to the door of the property. Start had also tried to track down the borrower at an apartment he had previously rented, but they had no success.

The borrower had taken out a loan of €450,000 on a house then worth €540,000 in 2008 and now had arrears of €43,000.

Ms Justice Dunne said she was very surprised by some of the “details or lack of details” in the borrower’s loan application.

The income had been self-certified, there were no employment details and his solicitor was “to be confirmed”.

“I’m surprised there was no information good, bad or indifferent about where he worked, what he did for a living . . . the most tangible bit of information is he had or may have had a bank account at Ulster Bank in Limerick,” she said.

The judge said the borrower was given a mortgage in June 2008 and had defaulted by August. She was not satisfied every effort had been made to give the borrower notice of proceedings.

She ordered that an advert be placed in both a local and a national newspaper to give the borrower one last opportunity to be served. She adjourned the case until February.