Information On Irish Judgment Mortgages



by Marlene Francisco


A creditor may try to get a judgment against a borrower in an Irish court because of non-payment of a debt once such payment is past due. Where this kind of judgment is given, interest is routinely applied at the statutory rate of 8%.

There are a number of ways available to the creditor to have the judgment enforced. The usual first step is almost always to register the judgment in the Judgments section of the Irish High Court. Anyone who subsequently carries out a Judgment Search in respect of the debtor becomes alert to the judgment and such judgments are also publicized in trade gazettes such as Stubbs Gazette.

There are additional regular journals that can carry judgments and available to bank managers, credit controllers and finance houses. A new buyer of property will usually undertake a search and if pretty much any judgments are outstanding against the vendor, the purchaser will insist on the judgment to be satisfied before parting with the purchase money.

When the debtor is the owner of property, the creditor could swear an affidavit describing the judgment and file this document in the Land Registry or in the Register of Deeds. If the property is on the market, the purchaser ought to do a search and the debt must be cleared from the proceeds of sale of the property. The lender can also force the sale of the property by getting an Order for Sale from the Court and after the sale of the property, the debt, interest and charges are discharged through the proceeds of sale.

Other ways of enforcing the judgment which may be available to the creditor consist of: lodging the judgment with the Sheriff, who may possibly seize goods in discharge of the debt; obtaining a Garnishee Order from the Court against third parties who owe money to the debtor, thereby ordering them to pay the monies straight to the creditor rather than to the debtor; taking out a Mareva Injunction against the debtor, thus freezing the debtor's assets and stopping him or her from removing such assets from the jurisdiction or otherwise disposing of them so as to avoid discharging the Judgment debt; obtaining an Instalment Order from the Court, compelling the debtor to settle the Judgment debt on an instalment basis if he or she cannot pay it in one lump sum; applying to the court to have the debtor declared a bankrupt.




About the Author: