Possession order against farmer delayed

AN ORDER of possession against a farmer turned builder, requiring him to sell his family farm, was delayed yesterday to allow him to dispose of three properties in Poland.

Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne also advised a second defendant he should appeal a decision made by the Department of Social and Family Affairs not to grant him mortgage interest relief when he lost his job.

The cases were among 67 before Ms Justice Dunne at the High Court yesterday.

Five orders of possession were granted for private homes; two were given to Start Mortgages, while Bank of Scotland (Ireland) Ltd and Ireland Carlisle Mortgages Ltd obtained one order each.

In a case taken by Irish Nationwide Building Society, the court heard a farmer, who was also involved in construction, had taken out a loan for €675,000 in 2002 on his 20-acre family farm in Ballinasloe, Co Galway. He had begun defaulting in 2003 and now owed arrears of €200,000.

The property had been in the family for generations, the court was told, and the defendant inherited it after his father died intestate. He had been farming the land since he was “knee-high to a grasshopper”, and much of the debt had been incurred buying out his siblings, his counsel said.

While the farm was profitable, the defendant had a problem with cashflow and was owed money from his construction business.

He had taken possession of three apartments in Poland in lieu of money owed to him. These were on the market, and it was hoped they would be sold for €103,000 each. There was also livestock that could be sold in the spring once it was fattened.

Counsel for the lender argued that the case had been before the court on numerous occasions and the defendant had previously promised to sell livestock, but had not done so.

Ms Justice Dunne said she did not see any basis on which the order for possession could be resisted. The arrears had risen from €142,000 to €200,000 since the matter was first before the court.

She granted an order of possession, but gave a six-month stay to allow for the sale of the apartments.

The judge, however, refused to grant an order of possession to Start Mortgages against a man who owned a four-bedroom house in Navan, Co Meath, with his wife and two children.

He had taken out a mortgage of €250,000 to buy it, with monthly repayments of €2,000. After losing his job as a glazier, he had fallen into arrears and was behind by €50,000. He told the court he had been promised two weeks work before Christmas and a full-time job afterwards.

His social welfare payments were €204 a week, he said. He had fought with his wife over money and left the family home for a few weeks, but was back there now.

The Department of Social and Family Affairs had refused to help him with his mortgage, he added.

“I will put this matter back to March,” Ms Justice Dunne said. “That’s long enough to get back on his feet.”

She told him to go back to the Department of Social and Family Affairs about mortgage interest relief.

“Consider appealing whatever decision they have made and see if you can get help,” she said.