The High Court has ordered the sale of a family home in County Kerry to enforce a judgment mortgage, but stayed the sale on condition that Peter Crean pay Michael Flynn €700 a month and a further €5,000 by 15 December 2019.
The order, made by Ms Justice Baker on 1 February 2019, concerns Folio KY67603F. The stay continues while the payments are made. If a payment is missed, Flynn may return to court on two days’ notice to seek further orders. The judge did not order that one missed payment would automatically result in a sale.
Flynn had obtained a €30,000 Circuit Court judgment against Crean in January 2016, with costs to be taxed if not agreed. The award followed a claim over defects in an extension Crean had built at Flynn’s home in Ballybunion, including damp penetration and inadequate foundations. Crean’s appeal was withdrawn, the judgment became final, and a judgment mortgage was registered against his interest in the Kerry property in September 2016. An attempt to enforce the judgment through the sheriff had failed.
The property is jointly owned by Crean and his wife, Michelle, and is their family home with their two children. A KBC Bank charge registered in 2008 had an outstanding balance of about €330,000. The judge concluded that a sale was highly unlikely to produce money for Flynn and could leave the Creans homeless with an unsecured debt to the bank. The judgment mortgage affected Crean’s interest only; the court made no finding that it affected his wife’s interest.
The judge had previously declared the judgment mortgage well charged against Crean’s interest. At this stage, she considered how it could be enforced. She said the court had to weigh the parties’ interests, including the impact on the non-debtor spouse and the likely financial consequences of a sale.
Baker found that Crean’s evidence about his income and finances was not truthful, citing unexplained payments, work for a brother and regular betting transactions. She concluded he could pay €700 monthly and would likely be able to make the additional lump-sum payment. The order for sale is therefore in place but stayed on those conditions. The judgment says an application to discharge the sale order may be made after the debt is paid, or earlier if the court considers it appropriate.