The High Court has dismissed an appeal by Suzanne Hayes and William Hayes against an order granting Pepper Finance possession of their property at Mountpoplar, Kildalkey, Co Meath.
Mr Justice Barry O’Donnell delivered judgment on 4 December 2025 following a fresh hearing of the possession application. The Circuit Court had granted possession in July 2021, with a two-year stay on execution.
The couple borrowed €392,000 from GE Capital Woodchester Home Loans in January 2008 and secured the loan by a mortgage over the property. Following missed repayments and attempts to deal with the arrears under the Central Bank’s mortgage arrears process, formal repayment demands were made in May 2014 and vacant possession was demanded the following month.
The borrowers challenged Pepper Finance’s entitlement to enforce the mortgage. Their principal argument concerned securitisation transactions which transferred the beneficial interest in the loan while leaving legal title with Pepper Finance. They also questioned the company’s change of name from GE Home Loans, relied on a Tax Appeal Commission determination and argued that terms of the mortgage were unfair under EU consumer law.
O’Donnell J rejected those arguments. He held that GE Home Loans and Pepper Finance were the same legal entity despite changes in ownership and name. He also found that later securitisation agreements separated legal and beneficial ownership but left Pepper Finance holding legal title to the debt and charge.
The judge said that this distinguished the case from an earlier Pepper Finance judgment where extensive redactions had prevented the court from determining the effect of securitisation documents. Less-redacted documents and further evidence supplied in this case resolved that problem.
The court also conducted its own assessment of the mortgage terms under EU unfair-terms law and found no unfairness in the provisions relied upon to seek possession.
The appeal was refused. A final hearing was fixed for January 2026 to settle the orders, costs and any application for a further stay.