Woman pays €14,000 to a non lawyer in repossession case, cannot appeal home possession order

I think M'Lud has a lot of discretion as they do with repossession cases I would have allowed her more time. Some of these snake oil salespersons really convince a person that they will solve it for them.
 
Seems that she knew her agent wasnt qualified, in c.2017 timeframe so the decision to appoint this "agent" was done with her full faculties available and paid the person in full for his "service" - seemingly at odds with her decision not to meet agreed repayments to the bank..
 
@clinteastwood I agree but I think M'Lud could have been less defensive of the legal profession when it is a fact that some before the courts for matters relating to their home are in a continuous state of shock and they will never have been inside a court before and may have no legal representation. People can get sucked in. Some non-legal folk (eg Padraic Kissane and Brendan Burgess) would be far more articulate in court than many legal folk. So the judge could have as he did, highlight the car-crash but with all the other delays in repossession this wouldn't have been a big deal to extend it. It's not like Start Mortgages paid a shed load for the mortgage in the first place. A detailed reading of the papers I am sure would have revealed a problem for Start.
 
I read about this in the newspaper recently and I am afraid she has only herself to blame. She was totally sucked in by this guy for years. He told her to pay nothing on the mortgage, he told her not to turn up for the court dates.

She did appear in court in Sept 2021 but obviously did not follow the courts requirements to start paying some of the mortgage and it took 6 years for Start to be granted possession so she had plenty of time to consider her strategy knowing the advisor was not a lawyer.

I am sure in 2021 when she did appear in court it was emphasised to her if she did not start paying she would loose the house.
 
As terrible a situation as it is for the woman the alternative might set a dangerous precedent.

What would stop anyone sending in the local idiot to champion their cause if they knew they could just appeal the outcome. The Mulligan of repossession! It could become a standard delaying tactic to a process that's already ponderous, as is.
 
I read the 21 page Judgment.

The non lawyer advice was only a (smallish) part of what I would regard as a balanced and reasoned judgment.

These were the real issues.

The inordinate delay in bringing the application.

The application did not disclose arguable grounds of appeal.

mf1
 
I have attended thousands of repossession cases with Karl Deeter and Séamus Coffey.

The borrowers are given huge leeway. the banks have to jump so many hurdles and avoid so many potholes that it's really hard for them to get an order.

I have rarely seen a case won by a solicitor on some legal grounds.


I think he said proceedings began in 2016! It has taken 8 years for them to confirm the order and she is not out of the house yet.

Yes, she has wasted €14k. But it's very unlikely a good solicitor and borrower would have managed to keep her in the house on some legal technicality

Of course, if they advised her to pay her mortgage and if she could have paid it, she would have kept her house.

The way to avoid repossession is to pay a meaningful amount towards your mortgage.
 
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