The Court of Appeal allowed Bank of Ireland Mortgage Bank’s appeal and entered judgment for the bank against Colm Heron and Orla Heron in proceedings over an unpaid loan. The judgment, delivered on 26 March 2015, gives reasons for an appeal the court had allowed on 9 March 2015.
The bank began proceedings in September 2012, seeking €162,102.15 plus interest under a loan agreement. By the time its application for summary judgment was heard in the High Court, the amount outstanding had risen to €171,699.92, including accrued interest.
The High Court refused the bank’s application on 1 December 2014 and sent the case to a plenary hearing, saying that would give the defendants a full opportunity. The Court of Appeal criticised the judge’s failure to give reasons, saying parties and an appellate court must be able to understand the basis for a decision. It said a short oral judgment need not be lengthy, but must explain the principal reasons.
On appeal, the court considered one proposed defence: the defendants’ allegation that the bank’s solicitors had failed to identify a title problem with the property bought using the loan. They said they had relied on the bank to investigate title and would not have borrowed had they known it was defective. They also said they could not provide further detail without discovery.
The bank’s evidence was that it had not retained solicitors for the conveyance. Instead, it relied on an undertaking and certificate of title from the defendants’ solicitor, Aidan Kelly, who had undertaken to secure good marketable title for them and later certified that they had acquired it. The undertaking was signed by both defendants. The Court of Appeal noted that the defendants filed no affidavit disputing the bank’s account and did not seek to cross-examine the bank’s witness.
The court concluded that the defence was a mere assertion and was not credible on the affidavit evidence. It held that the defendants had not met the low threshold for sending the matter to a full trial. It therefore set aside the High Court’s order and entered judgment for the bank. The judgment does not state the precise amount of the judgment entered.