A MAN who borrowed €200,000 to refurbish a pub in Drogheda and then failed to meet his repayments was last heard of in Latvia, the High Court was told yesterday.
An order was granted against a couple who split up before finishing the building of a new home.
Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne granted four orders for possession yesterday against people who had fallen behind with their mortgage repayments. Two were granted to Start Mortgages Ltd; ACC Bank Plc and Springboard Mortgages Ltd got one each.
Counsel for ACC Bank told the court they had lent €200,000 to a borrower in 2006 to fit out the Abbey Tavern Bar in Drogheda. The loan was secured against a “derelict” site at Togher, Co Louth and was to be repaid over 15 years, but only six instalments were paid and €239,000 was now outstanding on the loan. The borrower missed a court hearing in October after telling the lender he was in hospital, and he had since “disengaged from the process”.
Counsel said a private investigator had ascertained that the man was not living at the address used for his loan application, and had contacted the man’s father. The father had said he no longer had any dealings with his son. “The last he heard he is in Latvia,” counsel said. The father was “very unhappy” about being contacted by the bank at all, the court heard.
Ms Justice Dunne granted the order for possession with a stay of six months to allow the borrower to challenge it. She directed the order to be served on the borrower’s father and through an advertisement in a national newspaper.
Start Mortgages applied for an order for possession against a couple who had drawn down €172,000 of a €220,000 loan to build a property in Kerry in 2007.
Arrears of over €23,500 were due. The court heard both parties agreed to the repossession. The house was built and they had asked for a stay of six months in order to sell it. The lender consented and the order was granted.
An order was granted against a Swords taxi driver who ceased work due to ill-health. Springboard Mortgages Ltd said it offered the man mortgage counselling and advice on social welfare support, but he refused all offers. He owed €25,000 on a €200,000 mortgage. Ms Justice Dunne said nothing more was known of the borrower, as he had not appeared in court. She put a stay of four months on the order “bearing in mind the personal circumstances”.
