Repossession order granted against single mother

A SINGLE mother who had an order for possession granted against her yesterday had fallen behind with her mortgage after being attacked while driving her taxi, the High Court heard.

After attempting to rearrange her mortgage and sell her home, the woman from Edenderry, Co Offaly, had told Stepstone Mortgage Funding Ltd she could not make any more payments.

She had taken the mortgage in 2007, borrowing €190,000 at an interest rate of 7.8 per cent with repayments of €1,227 a month. The court heard she had periodically defaulted from July 2008 after she was attacked. She was off sick for a time and returned to work on a part-time basis.

She sought advice from the Money Advice and Budgeting Service and entered arrangements with the lender, but was unable to keep them up. She was turned down for mortgage interest supplement and could not find a buyer for her home. She took a computer course with Fás and hoped she could find employment in that area, but was unsuccessful.

The arrears on her mortgage were now almost €20,000, counsel for the lender said.

Granting the order for possession, Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne said the circumstances were unfortunate. The woman had done everything she could to try to deal with the matter, the judge said, but despite her “genuine efforts” she was unable to stick to the payments. The hopelessness of the case was demonstrated by the fact the amount now owed was greater than the original mortgage. The judge gave a stay of six months on the order to allow the woman to find alternative accommodation.

In a second case involving Stepstone Mortgages, the court heard a couple from Co Offaly were not objecting to having their home repossessed. They had borrowed over €237,000 in March 2008 at an interest rate of 10.6 per cent. By July 2008 they had begun to default. They now had arrears of €46,000 and their marriage had broken up. Ms Justice Dunne granted the order with a stay of six months.

An order was granted to Start Mortgages Ltd for a half-built property in Gort, Co Galway. A man had borrowed €209,000 in 2005 and 2008 to build a house He had lost his job and failed to finish the project.