Twelve orders for possession were granted at the High Court yesterday including one against a woman who made repayments almost equal to half her mortgage, but still owed the lender nearly twice what she and her separated husband had borrowed.
And in a separate case, Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne warned she could not “interfere with contractual issues between consenting parties”.
Secured Property Loans applied for an order for possession of a family home in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim. The court was told the couple were separated and had two college-going children. The woman, who was still living in the property, was consenting to the order, but wanted a stay or delay of 12 months on its execution.
The couple had remortgaged their home in 2006 with a loan of just over €55,000 to help them with their business. Over the course of the loan they had repaid €24,000, but when their business got into difficulties they fell into arrears and now owed €92,000.
Counsel for the woman said his client would consent to the order, but wanted a year to try to sell it.
Ms Justice Dunne agreed to grant it, but gave a six-month stay, given that the property was already on the market.
Speaking outside, the woman said she had found the legal process “traumatic”. She was angry with the subprime lender because she and her separated husband had paid back €24,000, but still owed €92,000.
“I’ll fight back – I’ve come back from worse in the past,” she said.
In a separate case, the court was told Stepstone Mortgage Funding lent €360,000 to a borrower in 2008 at an interest rate of 10.5 per cent with monthly repayments of more than €3,000 for 34 years. The borrower had fallen behind with his repayments and now owed almost €90,000 in arrears.
Counsel for the borrower said he was “quite concerned” a lender would offer a loan on those terms. His client was 48 when he took out the loan so he would be required to meet 17 years of repayments while only on a State pension.
Ms Justice Dunne said the court could not interfere with contractual arrangements between consenting parties. But she agreed to adjourn the case to allow the borrower to obtain his file from the lender.
She agreed to adjourn a case involving Start Mortgages after hearing a couple, who were paying €650 a month toward a €1,700 payment, had appealed a decision by the HSE not to grant them mortgage interest supplement. The court was given a letter from the HSE which stated if they were successful, they would be awarded €300 a week, but an oral appeal would take five months to be heard.
“If those payments come in it would be a significant help to all concerned,” the judge said. She listed the case for October.
