Widower has to fight order so council will rehouse him

A WIDOWER who lost his home in the High Court yesterday told the judge he could not agree to an order for repossession of his property because Waterford County Council would not rehouse him if he did.

The court was told the man had taken out a mortgage of €359,000 in 2007 with subprime lender Stepstone Mortgage Funding Ltd.

His wife died and he fell behind with mortgage repayments. He owed arrears of almost €70,000, counsel for the lender said.

A chef by trade, the man told Mr Justice Seán Ryan he was living in the property with his 13-year-old daughter. He had recently had heart surgery and was in receipt of a widower’s pension.

“Circumstances have not allowed me to pay the mortgage,” he said. “I have to be repossessed.”

He said he was advised that if he turned over the keys himself he would be deliberately making himself homeless and would not be housed by the local authority.

Describing the man as “candid and helpful”, Mr Justice Ryan said he understood the local authority would say he had contrived to lose his home if he agreed to the order. “I have sympathy for your situation and the state of your health and hopefully you will make a full recovery,” he said.

He granted the order for possession with a stay of execution of six months.

Speaking after the case, the man said when he first took out the mortgage his wife was very sick. “I was trying to get her and my child settled before she passed away,” he said.

If he could have avoided coming to court he would have, he said, but he had to appear because he could not deliberately make himself homeless. “Basically I have been through hell for the last two years,” he said. “It’s bricks and mortar at the end of the day; my home is where I am with my child.”

Stepstone Mortgages was also granted a possession order for a family home in Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan. The borrower had appeared in court on a number of occasions, but was not present yesterday.

He and his wife had taken out a separate mortgage in 2008 for €360,000, but with arrears, the balance now owed to the bank was More than €410,000.

The last time he was in court he had indicated he was owed €21,000 and promised to put it toward the arrears, but the money was never paid over, counsel for the lender said.

Mr Justice Ryan granted the order with a stay of six months.

Four other orders for possession were also granted; Start Mortgages Ltd got two and Carlisle Mortgages Ltd and GE Capital Woodchester Homeloans Ltd received one each.

In a separate case, taken by ICS Building Society, the judge granted well-charging orders for six properties against fugitive solicitor Michael Lynn and his business partner.

Counsel for the lender explained Mr Lynn had left the jurisdiction and previously, the court had directed he could be notified of his case via advertisement in The Irish Times.

"It is extremely expensive to advertise in The Irish Times," counsel for the lender complained. He asked if he could be allowed to advertise in the Examinerinstead.

The judge refused, saying if Mr Lynn became aware of the original advert, it would be reasonable for him to assume any other order might appear in the same paper.