Man given last opportunity to hold on to family home

A Mayo man who told the High Court his mother had "come home to die" has been given a last opportunity to hold on to his family home.

Subprime lender Start Mortgages Ltd had sought an order for possession against the man. The court was told he owed mortgage arrears of €98,000 and had made his last repayment in March 2011.

The man told Mr Justice Brian McGovern that his wife and his parents were living in the family home. He claimed his home was smashed up one night due to a local dispute about a quarry he owned and his mother was injured and "ended up in intensive care" in hospital. She had come home now to die, he said.

He also said another family member was getting chemotherapy. And he claimed he himself had been beaten up in the dispute. He said the individuals involved had been before the criminal courts. The man told the court a promised contract for the quarry had finally come through and he would earn €20,000 from it.

He would put this toward the arrears, he said. He also said he had a courier business and this had “begun to take off”. He sought more time to deal with his situation.

Mr Justice McGovern noted the man's "difficult circumstances" and said he did not want to see him having to deal with the matter before Christmas. He adjourned the case until March and told the man to pay the €20,000 and come up with plans to pay off more.

New order
In a separate case, GE Capital Woodchester sought a new order for possession for a property it originally repossessed in 2012. Counsel for the lender told the court that the borrower, a man in his 30s from Mullingar, Co Westmeath, had broken back into the property.

When the lender wrote to notify him of yesterday’s court action, the borrower sent back the letter with a note on it stating he did not recognise the sender and “did not have an international treaty” with it.

Mr Justice McGovern noted the “very strange message” and granted the new order.