Government pressed to make repossessions easier

Ireland’s bankers and bailout masters are pressing the Government to make it easier to seize homes bought as investments to rent out as defaults on the loans surge.

The troika of the IMF, European Commission, and ECB want the State to tackle a legal loophole impeding lenders from foreclosing on loans taken out before 2009, according to three people familiar with the matter, who declined to be named as final decisions haven’t been taken.

The Government’s effort to overcome legal and cultural obstacles to foreclosures is growing more urgent as delinquencies on rental properties grow, making it harder for banks to increase lending, and slowing the recovery.