A MAYO widow who guaranteed a mortgage for a member of her family had a disability which impacted her capacity to enter the agreement, the High Court was told yesterday.
Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne was told the 63-year-old, from Co Mayo, was being pursued by ACC Bank for €1 million after she became the guarantor of a loan which was later defaulted on.
Counsel for ACC Bank said the woman had guaranteed a loan for one of three properties which were the subject of applications for orders of possession.
Counsel for the woman told the court his client had a “significant disability” which had an impact on her ability to enter into a complex agreement. He had a detailed report by an educational psychologist that he would like time to canvass before the court, he said. And he believed a plenary hearing was needed. This would mean that instead of the case being heard on affidavit before the judge, there would be a full hearing of oral evidence.
The case had initially been heard before the Master’s Court, and the master, Edmund Honohan, issued an order adjourning the case to a plenary hearing. Yesterday, counsel for the lender asked Ms Justice Dunne to quash that order.
The judge agreed saying the order made by the master was “not something that is provided for in the rules”. She discharged it and said rather than sending the case back to the master, she would deal with the matter from now on.
The judge said if there was a defence that met “the low threshold required” for a plenary hearing it should first be provided to her in a written submission. She adjourned the case to December 19th to allow submissions from both sides.
Two orders for possession were granted yesterday; one each to Bank of Scotland (Ireland) Ltd and Stepstone Mortgage Funding Ltd. Both cases involved family homes.
An attachment order was also granted to Start Mortgages Ltd. The order will mean a farmer who failed to allow the sheriff repossess some of his land will be arrested and brought before the court.
The long-running case involved land in Tipperary that the sheriff could not repossess because the farmer refused to remove his cattle from the property.
