The High Court has upheld an order allowing Pepper Finance Corporation (Ireland) DAC to replace Ulster Bank Ireland DAC as plaintiff in possession proceedings concerning mortgaged land in County Kildare.
Ulster Bank began the Circuit Court case in July 2021 seeking possession of lands in Folio 48607F. The proceedings were later adjourned generally while the parties engaged with a view to resolving the dispute.
Pepper Finance applied in April 2025 to take Ulster Bank’s place in the proceedings. It said the relevant loan and security had been transferred as part of a loan-book sale and relied on a November 2023 deed of transfer. Pepper was registered as owner of the charge on the folio in April 2024.
The Circuit Court granted the substitution in December 2025. Paul and Caroline O’Brien appealed. Mr O’Brien represented himself and his wife at the High Court hearing.
Mr Justice Garrett Simons held that, because the possession case has not yet had its substantive hearing, Pepper only had to produce prima facie evidence that it had acquired sufficient legal title to continue the claim. It did not have to prove the transfer conclusively at this stage.
The court found that threshold had been met. Pepper was shown on the folio as registered owner of the charge. The November 2023 deed also purported on its face to transfer Ulster Bank’s rights in the relevant mortgage assets, while the O’Briens’ loan accounts were identified in affidavit evidence.
The judge acknowledged that the transfer documentation referred to other agreements which had not yet been put in evidence and that questions remained about the precise legal effect of the transaction and the notice given to the borrowers.
Those matters are left for the Circuit Court trial. Pepper must still establish the proofs needed for possession, and the O’Briens remain entitled to challenge the assignment and notice there.
The appeal was dismissed, the Circuit Court substitution order was affirmed and the appeal costs were made costs in the cause.