A HIGH COURT judge yesterday described comments made at the weekly chancery summonses hearing as “a form of emotional blackmail,” as repossession proceedings got under way in 44 cases.
Counsel for the defendant had told the judge that if his client’s house was repossessed, it would “be the killing of her”.
Responding to the claim, Mr Justice Brian McGovern said “that’s a form of emotional blackmail if you will”.
“Being told that if I make an order, which I am entitled to by law, it’ll kill her, isn’t very helpful,” he added.
The court was told that the woman had “a very bad credit rating” and was “notorious for not paying credit liabilities”.
The court also heard that the woman took out a mortgage in 2002 to purchase the property concerned, and had made no repayments in the seven years since.
The case was adjourned for six months to give the woman, now resident in a nursing home, time to sell the property.
In another case, a female defendant, who was present in court, also pleaded with the judge not to grant an order against her home.
The woman, who owned the house jointly with her cousin, owed in excess of €420,000 to subprime lender Start Mortgages.
The court heard that the woman had suffered a back injury on the day she moved into the property and, as a result, had been unable to work since.
Her cousin, the second-named defendant, had also been unemployed for some time, but had since got work as a taxi driver, the court was told.
The woman made proposals to pay €500 a week, but this was rejected by the lender as previous proposals were not followed through, and the payment would not discharge enough off the arrears, which stood at €69,602.
Last October, the defendant had said she hoped to get €7,000 from the sale of her car and €6,500 from the sale of dogs she was breeding to raise money to discharge some arrears. Since then, the arrears have increased by €20,000.
Granting the order, the judge said: “I sometimes wish developers and bankers would sit in here for a few hours on Monday mornings and see the real effects of property inflation on ordinary people and the effects of large loans on modest houses.”
Possession of a Co Kilkenny property was granted to GE Capital Woodchester, after the defendant accumulated nearly €17,000 in arrears.
The court heard that just three mortgage repayments had been made since 2007, with in excess of €230,000 currently outstanding on the original loan.
The defendant had previously made proposals to pay €1,240 per month towards the loan, and €400 per month towards arrears, but this was not followed through on.
The mortgage lender was also granted possession of a property in Galway city, after €26,000 accumulated in arrears.
A stay of six months was granted, as the property is located near the campus of Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, and it was argued the property could be easier to sell closer to the start of a new academic term.
An order for possession was granted to Start mortgages, after the court heard no mortgage repayments had been made and the house had been abandoned.
Counsel for the plaintiff said the defendant “hasn’t been seen for the last 12 months and is believed to have moved to New Zealand”.
Arrears in excess of €61,000 had accumulated on the original loan, which was for €275,000.
A total of eight possession orders were granted to banks and mortgage lenders at the hearing, half of which were granted to Start mortgages.