The High Court ordered Niall Quinn to give ACC Bank possession of two properties: 140 Morehampton Road in Donnybrook, Dublin, and 28 Auburn Heights in Athlone, County Westmeath.
In a judgment delivered on 25 March 2014, Mr Justice Michael White rejected Quinn’s argument that the bank had charged the wrong interest rate on a 2004 loan. The court found that the loan letter’s omission of a reference to Euribor was a clerical error. It accepted the bank’s evidence that the agreed rate was a 1.65 percentage-point margin over Euribor, not a fixed rate of 1.65%.
The action began in May 2009 as a special summons seeking recovery of the properties under mortgages. It was converted to a plenary hearing in October 2011. The court heard evidence over four days in January 2014.
The bank’s March 2009 figures put the amount due on one loan at €920,266.83, including arrears of €122,095.30, and the amount due on a second loan at €342,247.55, including arrears of €53,512.98. It also claimed €18,657.01 on a current account. These were the bank’s calculations recorded in the judgment.
Quinn argued that the Donnybrook property was his principal private residence and that the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears applied, preventing a possession order until the code had been followed. The bank disputed that the property was a principal residence. The court found that the loans were commercial facilities intended to finance an investment property, with projected rent taken into account. It said there was no independent evidence that the bank had been told the property was being used as Quinn’s primary residence, and that the written documents indicated otherwise. The court concluded the code did not apply in this case.
The judgment records that Quinn’s wife, Cathy Quinn, was not a party to the conveyance or mortgage, had no liability for the mortgage or arrears, and had been informed of her rights under the Family Home Protection Act 1976. The court found those rights did not prevent it from making a possession order.
The court also said that the bank’s appointment of a receiver over the Athlone property did not prevent it from seeking possession under the charge. It granted possession of both properties to ACC Bank. The judgment does not state a payment deadline or address enforcement arrangements.