Landlord faces repossession over €1.5m loan repayments

A LANDLORD’S rental income has dropped so much that he is unable to meet mortgage repayments on a €1.5 million loan, a court was told yesterday.

County registrar Susan Ryan heard things had got so bad for Co Cork property owner Declan Buckley that he had leased a pub in order to provide for his family. Barrister Niall Nolan, counsel for Buckley, of Waterfall Road, Bishopstown, said his client had experienced a significant fall-off in rents from a number of apartments he had bought at 203 North Circular Road, Dublin, and other property that he owned.

Mr Nolan, applying for an adjournment of IrishNationwide Building Society’s application to possess the property, said Mr Buckley had earlier negotiated a repayments deal but had been unable to maintain the agreement due to reduced rental income and loss of tenants.

Anne Lawlor, counsel for Irish Nationwide, told Ms Ryan the bank’s application had been before the court on five previous occasions and monthly repayment arrears were now €174,000.

“The society’s concern is that while the balance on the mortgage now stands at €1.5 million, the valuation on the property has dropped to €680,000,” she said.

Ms Ryan granted the INBS an order for possession with a stay of four weeks.

Meanwhile, a Limerick home was repossessed by a mortgage company after the High Court heard its owner had simply “vanished”.

The owner had allowed €20,000 arrears to accumulate on a €170,000 loan from Nua Mortgages. When the company’s lawyers attempted to serve a court order on the man they found his home abandoned with a bench blocking the door.

Accepting that the company had carried out its obligation to attempt to contact the defendant, Judge Brian McGovern granted the order for repossession.

The other possession orders concerned plots of land and commercial properties. Two of these orders were granted to Bank of Ireland with a further one to ACC Bank.

The vast majority of the 55 cases listed for hearing were adjourned. Another adjournment granted inrelation to properties in south Tipperary was delayed from April till June so that the case did not fall during the “calving season”. In this case Judge McGovern praised the defendant for turning up in court in person and maintaining contact with the bank during negotiations over his debts.

He added: “If you owe sums, to keep up negotiations with the lender is always better than keeping your head in the sand.”