The Court of Appeal awarded the Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland its costs of an appeal over possession of a house in Laytown, County Meath, and stayed the possession order until 1 September 2021. It declined to extend the stay for the longer periods sought by Janet Matthews.
The ruling, delivered on 17 June 2021, dealt with costs and a stay after the court had dismissed Ms Matthews’s appeal in judgments delivered on 31 July 2020. The High Court had made the original possession order on 15 June 2018, with a stay pending appeal.
The bank’s claim concerned a dwelling house that had been mortgaged by Mr John Melsop in 2005. He died in 2013. The ruling says Ms Matthews was his partner and lived at the house with him. She continued living there after his death and made some mortgage payments, the last on 28 January 2014.
In the appeal, Ms Matthews argued that the case should have been brought in the Circuit Court because she was a “mortgagor” under the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2013. She also argued that the claim was statute barred. The Court of Appeal rejected both arguments and dismissed the appeal.
After the appeal, Ms Matthews sought a 12-month stay and asked the court to make no order for appeal costs. The bank sought its costs, saying it had succeeded and that no special circumstances justified departing from the usual rule. Ms Matthews later proposed limiting the bank’s costs to half. The court found no basis to depart from the normal rule and awarded the bank its appeal costs.
The court sought updated information about whether Ms Matthews remained at the property and whether she had made further payments. It said the information showed no further payments to the bank and that she remained in occupation and possession. Ms Matthews said she wished to seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court and maintained that payments could affect her position on the limitation issue.
The Court of Appeal said a further stay beyond a relatively short period was not appropriate. It noted that Ms Matthews could apply to the Supreme Court for a stay. The court’s order does not determine whether she will seek or obtain leave to appeal: it stays the possession order only until 1 September 2021.