A MAN who borrowed almost €8 million from the Educational Building Society to develop a site in Co Tipperary has had it and four other properties repossessed.
Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne gave orders for possession to four lending institutions at the High Court yesterday: AIB, EBS, Leeds Building Society and Bank of Ireland.
In a separate case proceedings were interrupted when a Carlow farmer collapsed while being questioned by the judge.
The farmer had an order for possession granted against him in 2004 for land in Carlow following an unpaid debt. But the sheriff was unable to seize the land because it had cattle and horses on it. Yesterday’s application was to renew the execution order.
The farmer told the judge he was now in a position to deal with his debt, but complained of the additional interest, saying the plaintiff, had been “sitting back collecting 8 per cent on it”. He asked for a month to sort it out.
The judge pointed out that the order had been granted in 2004 and said the farmer had also “sat back and done nothing”.
The farmer then clutched his chest and collapsed onto the courtroom floor. Paramedics were called and he was given oxygen before being taken to the Mater hospital. His case was adjourned for a month.
Counsel for the EBS told the court it had lent €7.9 million to a borrower in 2006 to buy a 20-acre site in Nenagh, Co Tipperary. The mortgage was secured against four other properties in Co Wicklow.
Speaking in court yesterday, the borrower from Wexford said his only real concern was that the 20 acres of land were now under wheat worth €8,000 and he hoped if an order for possession was granted he could hold on to the land until harvest time. He also said the EBS had prevented him from selling some of the property in 2007, 2008 and 2009 to repay the debt he owed them and now they were repossessing it and it was worth next to nothing.
“I don’t know if I have a legal point, but I have a moral point,” he said. The judge granted the order for possession, but agreed to consider at a later date whether there should be a stay or postponement of the order related to the land until after harvest.
She adjourned an application for possession from Bank of Ireland after a man complained the bank refused an offer of €665,000 from two properties in 2008 that would now only fetch €350,000.
