Saturday, February 15, 2025

Attempt to evict one legged man

A determined and sustained attempt by a bank, aided by a local solicitor, to repossess the specially-modified, wheelchair-friendly home of an elderly, partially-blind, one-legged man, failed at the County Registrar’s Court in Mullingar this week.

Ronan Casey
The case against the man, who fell into mortgage arrears when he became ill in 2012, was one of 85 cases before Monday’s court, which has become known as the ‘Repossessions Court’. Topic’s prediction last week that no repossessions will take place before the elections may be prophetic, as at the end of a long day, no homes were actually repossessed. 14 cases were struck out and the remainder were all adjourned to future sittings.
A total of 29 homeowners, all from the greater Mullingar area, turned up to defend their homes, a significant increase on previous sittings. Their stories included an elderly couple who both have been diagnosed with cancer since proceedings against them started. There was a young couple who are paying back €1,000 a month – practically every cent they have spare – and were told everything was ok – until they received a letter last week telling them their home was to be repossessed on Monday.
An ill mother received loud cheers when she demanded – and got – a five month adjournment despite attempts by the bank to push through her case. She said the bank received adjournments in the past, each one causing her grave stress and anxiety, so it was about time she got one. “They are toying with my life,” she said.
A man told Topic he was trying to buy back his property from NAMA only to find himself in court. A farmer told us he was informed by a “winking TD” that there would be no repossessions until after the election. An elderly man said he and his wife were summonsed to appear, but the owner of their house – their son – was not summoned.
A couple in Rochfortbridge did not know they were before the courts until a Personal Insolvency Practitioner stopped proceedings in the court and rang them to let them know. There were claims that paperwork was not read and payment plans not taken into account by banks, and other claims that banks would not engage with customers. As her case was adjourned ‘til next year, a single mother said “the court is being told one thing, the bank is saying something else, and I’m being told something completely different.”
However the September sitting was marked by the attempt to take back the Mullingar home of the seriously ill man with one leg, a case which Jimmy Duffy of the Anti-Austerity Alliance said was “disgusting” and “a new low” for Mullingar.
The man, who Topic cannot identify as his case is ongoing, outlined to the County Registrars Court how he fell into difficulty paying back his mortgage to his lender, AIB, in 2012. His illness intensified in 2013 and, ultimately, in 2014 he lost a leg. His eyesight is poor and getting worse, he outlined, and almost three years on, he said he is halfway through a recovery programme.
The man pleaded with the court about how he wished to remain in his home until he had recovered more. He said there was a likelihood his illness may get worse, but he wanted to complete his recovery programme at home. After this, he said he would voluntarily hand back or sell his home if allowed to.
“I would like to recover in an environment in which I’m comfortable,” he said. “It is a family home, it is wheelchair-friendly and is a safe environment for someone with my illness. The bank is well aware of this,” he said.
However, the bank want the man out of his house, and on Friday last, September 11, he received a letter from AIB’s Dublin solicitors, Joynt and Crawford, informing him they would be repossessing his home at Mullingar Court on Monday, 14 September.
GASPS
There were audible gasps in Mullingar Court as the man calmly outlined his futile attempts over a period of over two years to meet with a bank official, person to person, to discuss his case. He said he could not get information on his mortgage nor any reason as to why no-one from the bank would meet him.
He said as he is seriously ill and has no income bar a pension, he had the intention of voluntarily surrendering his home. In his last communication with the bank in July of this year, he told them he wanted to work with them on this and meet an official so he could better understand what the process was.
However, he was informed in July that he would instead be contacted by the bank’s legal team. He picked up their registered letter on Friday last to find out he had, effectively, just two days left in his home.
UNSUSTAINABLE
A Mullingar solicitor, acting as an agent for Joynt and Crawford, outlined to the court that the man had submitted a Financial Statement to the bank, which they said showed he was “unsustainable”. They would not meet as they had considered his case based on his financial statement. She said the man had been uncooperative and had not engaged. The man said this was not true and he engaged with their agents until he found out they had been dismissed.
The solicitor said the arrears were in the region of €100,000. The original loan, issued in 2004, was for €200,000 and this was topped up in 2007 by a €55,000 loan. The bank first notified the man that he had fallen into arrears in 2012.
At one point, County Registrar Elizabeth Sharkey said she had to proceed with the order and there were further gasps in the packed court as it appeared the man was going to lose his home. But Mrs Sharkey postponed her decision to allow the court rise for lunch.
During the break, the Westmeath branch of the National Land League offered the man options as to how he could save his home. Meanwhile, Mrs Sharkey found there to be an issue with stamps on some paperwork.
After the break, the man advised the Registrar and the solicitor that he was not going to surrender his home, but that he was going to defend it. He asked for specific information related to his case, which the solicitor, acting on behalf of AIB, could not furnish. Noting difficulties, Mrs Sharkey then moved the case to a higher court, and the case will now be heard by a Circuit Court Judge on November 3.
CASES
At the monthly County Registrars Court, the 85 repossession cases were all heard briefly and were narrowed down to a dozen listed as ‘proceeding’ with banks, aided by two legal companies from Mullingar, one from Athlone and a number of Dublin barristers and solicitors, attempting to take the homes back. However, all the possible cases were adjourned to sittings in the New Year.
There was a loud protest outside the court and a massive presence inside the court of people opposed to repossessions, including members of the Land League and Anti-Austerity groups, as well as professional PIPs and supporters of families. No politican was present at the court.
Jimmy Duffy of the Anti Austerity Alliance told Topic the actions of the court in seeking to take the home of such an ill man were both “disgusting and disgraceful”. Sandra Daly of the National Land League said they were happy the man’s case has been moved to a different court as it will, she hopes, allow him access information from the banks and complete his recovery. The man himself declined to comment.
– Meanwhile, one well-known legal practice in Mullingar has declined to take on any cases as agents for banks or their respective legal firms.

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