High Court to extend hearings on repossessions

THE High Court is to extend its hearings for applications by banks and building societies to repossess the property of loan defaulters because of the growing number of cases coming before the courts.

Mr Justice Brian McGovern confirmed yesterday that the High Court will sit longer from next Monday for the weekly hearing of such applications.

Traditionally, such hearings take place once a week on a Monday afternoon starting at 2.00pm. However, the High Court will sit from 11.45am from next week for the foreseeable future to deal with the backlog of cases.

Mr Justice McGovern said it was unsatisfactory that people could spend a whole afternoon in court without their case being mentioned and being forced to return on another date.

A total of 38 cases were listed before the High Court yesterday. However, the list can regularly contain over 50 individual applications for repossessions of property.

Nine orders for repossession were granted by Mr Justice McGovern yesterday — six of which were issued to the subprime lender Start Mortgages.

The judge said the lending institution should not suffer any loss as a result of stays being placed on such orders because of the large number of properties which Start Mortgages was trying to sell.

Mr Justice McGovern said every case coming before the court involved “some element of hardship” but he was obliged to uphold the law in granting applications for repossession when people had defaulted on binding legal agreements.

He granted Start Mortgages a possession order with a stay of four months on a property in Carrigaline, Co Cork, after hearing the arrears on the mortgage meant the total due was now over €10,000 in excess of the original loan.

A Tipperary catering manager also faces losing her home after she fell into difficulties seven months after taking out a €250,000 mortgage with Start Mortgages when she lost her job. A repossession order with a stay of three months was granted on the house which is now in “a negative equity situation”.

A similar order was granted on the home of a single, disabled man from Cork who owes Start Mortgages €230,000.

The same company was also given permission to repossess the home of a Kildare couple.

The court heard another couple with three young children owed Start Mortgages almost €129,000.

AIB obtained a possession order with a six-month stay on an unoccupied home in Limerick which was bought as a buy-to-let investment property.

In another case, the court heard that a couple from Co Cavan, who owed €250,000 on an original loan of €232,000 were also facing proceedings by two other banks.

A representative of GE Capital Woodchester said their offer to repay €157 per month to clear arrears of €18,650 was not acceptable as it would take over 11 years to pay off.

Bank of Scotland was also given permission to repossess two unoccupied commercial properties in Wicklow.