Consumers see number of judgments for indebtedness increase by 28%

THE value of consumer judgments such as bills not being paid in the first quarter of 2011 rose by more than 28% year-on-year.

This is according to Irish Judgments, the company which collates judgment information from the Four Courts.

Almost €113.1 million of consumer debt was registered in the first quarter of this year, compared with just €88.2m over the same period last year — an increase of €24.9m. There were 991 cases in quarter one of this year compared with 807 last year.

Debts registered against businesses fell in the same period by 38.4%, or €11.1m from €29m to €17.9m.

However, the company said these figures do not paint a complete picture of debt in Ireland as the courts service decided in November last year to deny public right of access to judgment information held in district and circuit courts.

Irish Judgments chairman, Malcolm Hurlston said: “We aim to challenge the bizarre decision of the courts service through the legal process and with public pressure.

“After the events of the last few years the public must demand all measures possible to ensure the highest standards in responsible lending.”

Irish Judgments said that the information not being made available means that thousands of judgments and “many millions of euro of debt”, is currently not available to the credit world.

Registry Trust, Irish Judgments’ parent company, is challenging the court service decision. It plans to launch a website called Open Court which it said will provide a forum for those who oppose this decision and a source of information for those who wish to know more.

Director of MoneyCoach.ie, Frank Conway, said: “This is the big get out of jail card many credit providers who can, through the courts, secure their debts against the property of consumers. While the process can generally be slow... the process provides a mechanism for creditors to ratchet up significant pressure on those who may not have the immediate income or means to service their debts.

“The bottom line here is that homeowners without mortgages need to be aware that their homes continue to be at risk, even if they have paid off their mortgages.”