Court grants a record 18 house repossession orders

SOME 18 repossessions were granted in the High Court yesterday, the highest number in a single day this year.

The majority of the repossessed homes had already been abandoned by their owners.

Miss Justice Elizabeth Dunne highlighted the legal costs associated with the orders for possession would be granted at Circuit Court value and not High Court value, but would “follow the event unless there are exceptional circumstances”. Out of 76 cases yesterday, 28 were taken by sub-prime lender Start Mortgages. Other mortgage providers included IIB Home Loans Ltd, Stepstone Mortgage Funding Ltd, GE Capital Woodchester Home Loans Ltd and KBC Mortgage Bank.

Some 11 orders were granted against properties already vacant. Homeowners had simply walked away. Some had left the country, others had marital difficulties and were living elsewhere. One homeowner just abandoned their property and left the front door open.

The majority were granted in cases that had been before the High Court on at least two occasions, though in some cases it was the first time they had been heard.

Counsel for Leeds Building Society told the court a mortgage of €680,000 had been taken out on a property in March 2007 and no repayments had been made on it. There were arrears of €37,000 and its loan to value was now 181 per cent, the court was told.

The couple involved had split up and when contacted by the building society, the first-named defendant, the husband, had said he had no intention of making any payments. Although it was the first hearing for the case, the judge granted the order, putting a stay of one month on it in case the second-named defendant needed some time.

Start Mortgages were granted an order of possession against a Dublin couple who had taken out a loan of €150,000 in 2006 and hadn’t made any payments since December 2007. The woman attended court alone and told Miss Justice Dunne that “nothing is improving”. She agreed to the repossession with a stay of six months.

But the judge refused to grant an order to Stepstone Mortgages against a Dublin couple who had fallen into arrears. Details of their debt were not revealed in court, but counsel for the mortgage company said they had not met the full amount of a revised payment schedule agreed in July.

Clutching her bank book, which showed they had been making regular payments, the woman nervously bit her lip as she walked to the front of the court while her partner hung back. The judge asked her why they had not kept to the rescheduled payments. “I have three small children and they need things for school,” she said.

The judge said it was a good sign regular payments were being made and hoped the couple, both taxi drivers, would be able add to that amount in the future.“You are obviously doing your best,” she said. She told them to keep up the payments and put the matter back for hearing again in February.

Afterwards, they both cried with relief outside the court room. “I thought they’d take it off us,” the woman said, rubbing her stomach as though she might be sick. “She was very fair,” her partner added.

Counsel for a woman who was consenting to the repossession of her home by GE Capital Woodchester Home Loans Ltd argued against costs. But the judge pointed out costs for orders for possession would be granted at Circuit Court value only. She put a 12-month stay on the order for costs.