Couple lose home after failing to honour numerous pledges to repay lender

A CONTRACTOR and his wife lost the battle to save their family home after breaking numerous promises to repay their mounting mortgage bills with their lender.

The couple had pledged to reduce their growing mortgage debt by paying cheques, with laser card payments and with the income from a new building business. But the High Court heard yesterday how lender Stepstone Mortgages received little or no payments despite the married couple’s promises and the amount owed now far exceeded the original loan.

The loan for their four-bedroom house in Kilmallock, Co Limerick, had grown with interest to over €511,000 on the original mortgage of €390,000 taken out in mid 2008, the court heard.

As recently as November, a cheque was promised to the lender but was returned unpaid.

The husband had recently secured work installing septic tanks in houses, earning a commission of €120 for each job done.

The court heard his wife was a childminder.

The husband had told the lender he expected to install between 20 and 50 tanks a month and promised to hand over part of his income. This never happened while pledges to pay amounts of €3,500 by laser card were never met.

Arrears on the 40-year mortgage with an APR of 11% had now risen to over €160,000 and only two mortgage payments of a total €5,700 had been made since the loan was issued.

Judge Elizabeth Dunne said the couple were in an “unsustainable position” and granted a six-month stay on the repossession order.

Four repossession orders were granted out of a total 56 listed for hearing yesterday, with many adjourned until the New Year.

In another case, a traditional thatched village bar in Meath was repossessed by Bank of Ireland after the court heard how the married couple owed nearly €1.2 million to the lender.

A mortgage of €1.1m had been taken out to buy Julianstown Inn in mid-2002. The mortgage — initially to be repaid in 10 years — had risen to €1.16m, the court heard.

Monthly repayments of nearly €10,000 had been agreed on the loan, but the couple who owned the building had only managed to repay just €6,300 this year, the court heard.

Judge Dunne granted the order with a six-month stay.

In another case, the judge granted a female borrower more time to do up her and her partner’s house and sell it off before it could be repossessed, but warned that “it may be a case of throwing good money after bad.”

The Kilkenny home was unoccupied and in poor condition with no electricity and running water.

The couple owed nearly €400,000 on an original mortgage of €360,000.

While they were unable to meet the €3,500 monthly payments, the judge adjourned the case so work could be done on the property to help its sale.