Pepper Finance Corporation has secured a possession order over Brian Sherlock’s family home in County Dublin after the Circuit Court rejected challenges to the lender’s title, the timing of the proceedings and the level of detail provided about the mortgage debt.
The mortgage originated with First Active, which advanced €224,000 in 2004 and a further €30,000 in 2005 to Sherlock and his late wife, Valerie Flood. Flood died in October 2015 and Sherlock acquired her interest in the property by survivorship.
Pepper said the mortgage and loans were ultimately transferred to it by Ulster Bank in February 2020. Sherlock disputed whether the transfer documentation established a valid chain of title, particularly because parts of the deed were redacted and earlier transfers had not been separately notified to him.
Judge Jennifer O’Brien rejected that defence. She found, on the balance of probabilities, that the loans were included in the business transferred to Pepper. Relevant factors included correspondence from Pepper, payments made to it by Sherlock, his engagement with it about repayment, the absence of any competing lender asserting rights and a mortgage clause expressly allowing assignment without further notice to the borrowers.
Sherlock also argued that the claim was statute barred because default had occurred as early as 2007. The court held that the mortgage gave the lender alternative grounds for accelerating the debt, including expiry of one month after written notice. It therefore found that time began to run after the 2022 demand rather than from the earlier missed payment.
The court also held that detailed calculation of the outstanding balance was not decisive because Pepper sought possession rather than judgment for a liquidated sum. Default itself was established.
The court found that the property remained Sherlock’s family home after his wife’s death and that Pepper had complied with the Central Bank’s mortgage arrears code.
A possession order was granted, but stayed for six months. Pepper was also awarded its costs, including reserved and discovery costs.