Pepper Repossession Case Struck Out After 9 years in Circuit Court, no explanation

[Jellybean4]

Mortgage originally with Bank of Scotland Ireland since 2007. Went interest only in 2011 due to redundancies (both parties), subsequently fell into arrears. Mortgage has changed hands several times (Bank of Scotland Certus Tanager Lapithus Pepper).

Tanager initiated legal proceedings for Repossession in early 2015. We managed to get repeated adjournments at various stages, were making some repayments etc.

We started Insolvency process in 2019, delayed by covid, and almost completed in Feb 2022 when OH was made redundant again very unexpectedly. Insolvency application ultimately collapsed. Had to wait 12 months before reapplying.

Started Insolvency process again in June 2023.

Went to court in Feb 2024 ready to provide evidence of the stage we were at (Protective Certificate hearing was listed for a few days after), expecting to get a further adjournment. (Should note that we were always lay litigants throughout).

Out of the blue, Pepper’s junior counsel stated that their instruction was to have the matter struck out.

That was it, done and dusted. No explanation, case closed after 9 years. The Garda in court walked me out and told me to buy a lotto ticket!

Someone from Pepper had phoned me while I was in court, obviously my phone was on silent. They left a garbled voicemail and never got back to me after I returned the call (several times as I was keen to find out what was going on). Zero communication from them since then.

My problem, and the reason I’m asking here, is that I have no idea how or why this happened. What prompted them to do that? What happens next? Where do we stand? What can we do? How do we find out?

I asked the Court Clerk, he couldn’t offer any explanation, suggested I ask their solicitor. I have emailed their solicitor, got no reply. Our PIP says this is highly irregular and they’ve never come across it before, can’t offer any insight.

We have continued as we were in the mean time with payments to Pepper and the Insolvency Application is still going through the motions (just over half way through the 70 day PC period).

Has anyone here ever encountered a similar situation, or heard of any other similar cases? Can anyone offer any advice or suggest how we might find out more information on why they decided to drop their case?

Thanks for reading if you got this far! Tried to keep a very long story as short as possible!

 

[Brendan Burgess]

Went to court in Feb 2024 ready to provide evidence of the stage we were at (Protective Certificate hearing was listed for a few days after), expecting to get a further adjournment.

You were paying something.
You were applying for a PIA.
You were showing up in court.

Pepper clearly knew that they had no chance whatsoever of getting an order for possession.

So there was no reason for them to continue with this frustrating and expensive legal process.

They could have asked the Registrar for a general adjournment which would have allowed them to re-enter it at short notice if you stopped paying but some Registrars don't like doing this.

What happens next? Where do we stand? What can we do? How do we find out?

You are an ordinary mortgage holder who is deep in arrears who is applying for a PIA.

Like lots of other people.

Wait until you see if the PIA is possible.

We have continued as we were in the mean time with payments to Pepper

And you should continue doing so. These payments will stand to you as they have done in getting repeated adjournments.

If your PIP proposes a PIA which Pepper rejects and you appeal to the High Court, the judge will be more amenable to you as you are engaging and paying something.

It also shows that your PIA is sustainable.

Brendan

 

[lff12]

Sounds like they've realised that they are not going to get any more out of you via a repo than they will via PIA route. Keep going with the PIA, you are paying something & engaging so should have a more favourable outcome this time.