POSITION OF PARTIES UNDER MORTGAGES

Further reading, see Irish Land Law, ch 13.

Once again there have been numerous reported cases where a lender has sought a summary judgment for the outstanding mortgage debt against either the borrower or a guarantor. In most of them the Court ruled that the borrower or guarantor had not raised a sufficiently arguable or bona fide defence to justify sending the case to a plenary hearing: see Danske Bank v Shortt [2019] IEHC 381; Promontoria (Gem) DAC v Murphy [2019] IEHC 395; Bank of Ireland Mortgage Bank v Kane [2019] IEHC 421; Promontoria (Finn) Ltd v Boyle [2019] IEHC 463; Feniton Property Finance DAC v McCool [2019] IEHC 473. On the other hand, in Allied Irish Banks plc v Kierview [2019] IEHC 464 MacGrath J refused the lender’s application for a summary judgment on the ground that an arguable defence had been raised, namely, that as a result of a misrepresentation by the lender there was doubt as to the continuing personal liability of the guarantor. Similarly, in Bank of Ireland Mortgage Bank v White [2019] IEHC 465 MacGrath J refused a summary judgment against the borrower’s wife on the ground that she had an arguable defence that she had not signed the loan agreement nor was otherwise a party to the mortgage. See also, para 13.11.