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Home Repossessions Record Increase...

Record increase in families fighting to save home...



REPOSSESSION orders sought by banks and mortgage lenders soared by more than 100pc last year in the wake of the downturn.

According to figures complied by the Courts Service, 758 new applications for possession orders were brought to the High Court in 2008 -- compared to 374 the previous year.

The increase is the largest ever recorded by the courts and points to aggressive tactics deployed by some lenders to recover their debts.

Many of the applications were from subprime lenders, such as Start Mortgages, but there were also from major banks such as AIB and Bank of Ireland.

In the past six months of 2008 the High Court received 505 applications -- compared with 253 at the start of the year.

However it was the final quarter of last year, when the country was hit by massive job losses, which saw applications gain momentum.

Between October and December 294 applications were brought by lenders -- compared to just 96 during the same period in 2007.

The big increase in applications led to a total of 238 properties actually being taken away from their owners by financial institutions who were granted repossession orders -- the highest number of repossessions in four years.

Struggle

The figures come as thousands of people struggle to meet mortgage repayments in light of an increase in unemployment -- which is set to hit more than 400,000 by the end of this year.

Recently the Master of the High Court, Edmund Honohan, warned an "avalanche" of home repossession cases was anticipated for the courts in light of what he described as a recession of 'historic proportions'.

A county-by-county analysis of the orders granted show Dublin was the worst hit, with 53 repossession orders -- 35 on residential properties.

This was followed by Cork, which saw 21 repossession orders granted -- 11 on residential properties.

Last night Michael Culloty of the Money and Advice Service (MABS) said people facing home repossession were feeling isolated and desperate.

And he said one in three callers to the organisation were seeking help after falling behind their mortgage repayments.

"We have seen an increase in people coming to us to cannot met their mortgage payments. We are urging people to negotiate an affordable medium term agreement if they are falling into difficulty."



Report by Patricia McDonagh - Irish Independent.

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