The High Court has dismissed an appeal by Deirdre Tighe and Chris Pendergast against a Circuit Court order for possession of a property in Gorey, Co. Wexford. Mr Justice Barr affirmed the possession order without a stay. The parties were given two weeks to make brief written submissions on costs and any other matters arising.
The case concerned a loan of €175,000 made in 2007 by GE Capital Woodchester Home Loans Limited, later renamed Pepper Finance Corporation (Ireland) and now Pepper Finance Corporation (Ireland) DAC. The loan was secured against a property owned by Ms Tighe. The Circuit Court granted Pepper an order for possession on 10 March 2020, and the defendants appealed.
The defendants did not dispute receiving the loan, granting the charge over the property or defaulting on repayments. The central dispute was whether Pepper could bring the possession proceedings after the loan’s beneficial interest had been securitised to Windmill Funding Limited. The defendants argued that Pepper held only legal title as bare trustee, so Windmill should have been joined as a plaintiff. They also challenged the Circuit Court’s jurisdiction and sought, among other things, a referral to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The High Court found that Pepper had established the registered charge, the repayment default, demands for repayment and possession, and its continued legal title following the lender’s name change. It held that the securitisation did not prevent Pepper from pursuing the claim. Applying the High Court’s decision in Pepper Finance v Jenkins, Mr Justice Barr said the beneficial owner did not need to be named as a plaintiff where the borrower had not been notified of the assignment.
The judge rejected the other principal challenges. He found the Circuit Court had jurisdiction under the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2013, and that practice direction CC17 did not apply because the proceedings began in November 2014, before the direction took effect. He declined to refer a question to the EU court, finding no issue of EU law requiring determination.
A document about a 2021 deed involving Balbec Loan IE IV Limited and Intertrust Trustee (Jersey) Limited had been handed to the court but was not proved by affidavit. The judge said it was unclear how it related to the proceedings and found it raised no defence. The judgment did not determine costs; written submissions on that issue were invited.