Repossession notices can be put on vacant properties

A JUDGE has instructed that legal notices should be posted on the doors of houses which appear to have been abandoned by people in mortgage arrears and where the people cannot be contacted.

The High Court also heard yesterday that a Co Carlow couple claimed they were unable to consent to a repossession of their home because they believed to do so would damage their chances of getting a council house.

Mr Justice Daniel O’Keeffe was told the couple had taken out a €240,000 mortgage at a rate of 8.15 per cent from Stepstone Mortgages in 2007. The annual rate for the loan was 9 per cent and the repayments worked out at €1,596 a month over 40 years.

The family had encountered difficulty and accrued arrears of almost €26,000, increasing the amount outstanding on their mortgage to €265,472.

Counsel for Stepstone Mortgages asked the court to make an order for possession of the property with costs. He said the couple were unable to consent to an order for possession, as they believed consent would badly affect their chances of being allocated a home by their local authority.

The husband involved asked Mr Justice O’Keeffe to put a stay on the order for “as long as possible” in order for him and his family to make necessary arrangements. The court granted the order with a stay of six months.

The court also heard a number of applications for orders in relation to homes where the defendants were no longer living and could not be contacted.

Stepstone Mortgages told the court that, in one case, it had received an order for possession last November but had been unable to serve that order on the defendants. Neighbours had said the property was now vacant.

Mr Justice O’Keeffe granted permission for notices to be fixed to the hall door of the property, with a stay of two weeks on the order becoming absolute.

The short stay was in the interests of securing the property and achieving the greatest value for all sides, he said.

A similar order was granted to KBC bank where counsel for the bank said the property appeared to have been abandoned.

In other cases, an order for possession was granted to Bank of Scotland (Ireland) for possession of a commercial building in Waterford city. The court was told a couple owed more than €1 million on a number of loans. The loans included €678,000 for the construction of the building in May 2003, a further €71,000 for fit-out and completion in March 2005, and a separate loan of €250,000 in refinancing.

Counsel for the bank said the couple had failed to make repayments. In June 2009, the bank wrote to the couple terminating the agreement and seeking repayment. In October 2009, arrears stood at €87,912 and the total debt was now more than €1 million. A stay of three months was put on the order.

A Co Roscommon man was given until 5pm on Friday to have €10,000 paid to Bank of Ireland in a case where the bank was seeking repossession of a public house.

Counsel for the pub owners said it had been flooded earlier this year and the owner was proposing to do a four-week renovation. Tenants had been lined up to rent the pub and there was an additional income from communications masts located on the property.

The monthly rental income was €2,533.33, more than enough to cover the bank repayments of €2,469.64 and a further sum of €10,000 could be paid over immediately, counsel said. She asked for an adjournment of the case or, if an order was to be made, a stay on the order of nine months.

Mr Justice O’Keeffe said he would consider the possibility of an adjournment on Friday, on the understanding that the €10,000 would have cleared the defendant’s bank by that time.