The High Court has dismissed an appeal by Vincent Kavanagh against a Circuit Court order granting Start Mortgages Limited possession of a property at 36 Beechwood Park, Carlow.
Mr Justice Noonan delivered judgment on 4 July 2017. The appeal concerned an order made by the Circuit Court on 14 June 2016, which granted possession to Start and stayed enforcement for six months. The Circuit Court made no order as to costs.
The case arose from a €110,000 home loan taken out by Vincent and Madeleine Kavanagh with Bank of Scotland (Ireland) Limited in 2007. The judgment records that repayments fell into arrears from the end of 2009. The mortgage interest later passed to Bank of Scotland plc, then to LSF IX Paris Investments Limited, and was ultimately assigned to Start. Start was registered on the property folio as owner of the charge on 10 April 2015.
Mr Kavanagh’s main argument was that Start had not established its title to bring the possession proceedings. Justice Noonan said the folio register was conclusive evidence of the registered owner’s title under the Registration of Title Act 1964. He was satisfied that Start’s proofs were in order and that it was entitled to possession.
The judge also found that the property was Mr Kavanagh’s principal private residence, giving the Circuit Court jurisdiction under the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2013. He noted that Mr Kavanagh had sworn that the property was his only home and that he had lived there since 1990, but later filed an affidavit saying he had moved to another Carlow address in 2010.
The High Court appeal followed an extension of time granted by the Master of the High Court after Mr Kavanagh missed the appeal deadline. Justice Noonan dismissed the appeal. The judgment does not state a costs order made in the High Court on dismissal; it records only that the Circuit Court had made no costs order.