The High Court entered judgment for AIB Mortgage Bank for €244,591.69 after finding that its claim against Nadine Thompson could proceed in equity, despite insufficient written notice of the transfer of her mortgage loan.
The bank sought summary judgment on a loan originally made by Allied Irish Banks plc in December 2003. The €240,000 loan was secured by a 25-year mortgage. AIB Mortgage Bank claimed the benefit of the loan and security after a transfer from Allied Irish Banks in February 2006.
Ms Justice Baker heard the matter on the bank’s summary-judgment motion, but it proceeded on the defendant’s challenge to whether the proceedings were properly constituted. Both sides filed written submissions, and the facts surrounding the loan were not disputed. The judge said the matter was suitable for determination without oral evidence.
The judge was satisfied from affidavit evidence that the loan and its security had been transferred to AIB Mortgage Bank. She also found the bank had established the loan facility and default, and could rely on the loan records it had received with the assignment.
However, the judge ruled that the borrower’s agreement to allow a transfer without notice did not replace the express written notice required by section 28(6) of the Supreme Court of Judicature (Ireland) Act 1877 for an assignment to transfer the legal right to sue. The bank relied on a 2006 account statement saying that Allied Irish Banks had transferred substantially all of its Irish mortgage business, and a 2015 demand letter stating that AIB Mortgage Bank was entitled to the benefit of the agreement.
The judge found that the statement did not tell Ms Thompson that her individual loan was included in the transfer. The later demand letter claimed the bank owned the benefit of the loan but did not expressly tell her that an assignment had occurred. Taken together, the documents did not amount to sufficient express notice. The claim therefore could not be maintained against her at common law.
The court nevertheless concluded that the transfer was effective in equity and that the original lender did not need to be joined as a party in the circumstances. The judge said the statutory transfer meant Allied Irish Banks no longer had rights in respect of the debt, and there was no basis for it to pursue the borrower separately. She entered judgment for AIB Mortgage Bank for the full amount claimed.