Couple fight receiver’s appointment over rent
Retired accountant Brendan Kelly and his wife Asta Kelly were videoed last April being evicted from their home at St Matthias Wood, Killiney, over debts owed to the now liquidated Irish Bank Resolution Corporation.
They were also landlords to five apartments at The Waterside, Charlotte Quay, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin, on which €30,000 in management fees is now allegedly outstanding.
In Jun 2011, the apartment managers, Waterside Management Co, obtained a circuit court judgment against the Kellys for €9,684 it claimed was due in service charges in relation to the flats, for which the Kellys had been receiving rents.
Waterside’s managing agent, Margaret Ryan, said that despite efforts to enforce that judgment, including the involvement of the city sheriff, the debt remained outstanding.
Ms Ryan said that, despite many calls to where the Kellys were then living, Simmonscourt Castle, Ballsbridge, Dublin, as well as phone-calls to Mr Kelly, it has not been possible to enforce the judgment.
She believed that the couple, who she said had “featured extensively in the national media concerning an eviction from their property in Killiney”, had “gone to ground”.
Ms Ryan also said that, to her knowledge, all five apartments are occupied and generating a monthly rental income of between €1,000 and €1,300 each.
Last December, Waterside obtained a circuit court order appointing Ms Ryan as receiver over those rents.
Yesterday, the Kellys went to the High Court to appeal that decision, claiming the appointment of a receiver was not an appropriate remedy for recovery of the debt.
The president of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, said he would give his decision later.
Mr Kelly said in an affidavit sworn on Dec 6, in which his address is given as Simmonscourt Castle, he had not gone to ground but has been busy trying to deal with other creditors in the best way he could.
He said all five properties are mortgaged to Permanent TSB and Bank of Scotland Ireland, which are entitled to be paid the rents to discharge monthly payments due to them, the bulk of which is €4,318 per month to PTSB. If the mortgage does not get paid, it is unclear as to what obligation PTSB would be under to pay the service charge arrears, he said.
Mr Kelly also said the service charges were exorbitant and he was not the only apartment owner in disagreement with the level of charge. There are also issues over whether the management company was in compliance with the 2011 Multi Unit Development Act, he said.
Tim Dixon, counsel for the Kellys, argued yesterday the appropriate forum for recovery of a management fee debt was by applying the district court for instalment orders for repayment.
Michael Vallely, for Waterside, said the appeal should be rejected because various efforts to get the Kellys to engage had not been successful.
