Myles Crofton sees biggest court judgment of this year


Irish Independent 24/12/2014 John Mulligan

Irish consumers were slapped with court judgments totalling €900m this year - a third more than the value registered against them in 2013, according to figures prepared for the Irish Independent.
The huge rise came despite the number of judgments secured against consumers in the courts by creditors falling 13pc this year to just under 3,600, according to the figures compiled by debt monitoring service Stubbs Gazette and its joint venture firm, Insolvency Resolution Service.

The number of commercial judgments registered fell sharply, by 40pc to 925 in the year to December 18.

The value of commercial judgments also declined, by 25pc to €54m.

The Revenue Commissioners was the entity to secure the biggest number of judgments this year, at 1,770, but that represented a 14pc decline for the agency.

Banks secured 400 judgments, up 8.7pc.

NAMA barely figures in the statistics any more, securing just three judgments. That's a third fewer than it did in 2013.

The number secured by credit unions totalled 450, down 22.4pc.

Other successful applicants, which include a range of creditors from telephone companies to electricity providers, secured 1,901 judgments, down 29.2pc.

The biggest consumer judgment secured this year was for €64.2m against Dublin developer Myles Crofton and his wife Karin. It was obtained by Ulster Bank. Other notable judgments included one for €24.5m secured against Limerick businessman John Shee by Bank of Scotland.

A separate judgment secured by NAMA against Mr Shee, an accountant and developer, hasn't yet been enforced as Mr Shee could not be traced.

He was understood to be outside the country.

Stubbs Gazette said the fact that credit union judgments have decreased in volume and value may be an effect of a more circumspect attitude to lending given the "close observance" of the lenders by the Central Bank.

"It may also be the case that credit unions are becoming more conservative about proceeding to judgment, as this course may not be providing a viable commercial return considering the costs involved," it added.

Stubbs Gazette and Insolvency Resolution Service predict that personal insolvency applications will soar 1,000pc to 10,000 in 2015.

James Treacy, the managing director of Stubbs Gazette, insisted the system won't be able to deal with the number of applications.

He said there are only 143 registered personal insolvency practitioners in Ireland and only 20 of those are fully operational. Of the 20, only a small number are geared up to deal with large volumes of applications.

Mitchell O'Brien of Insolvency Resolution Service said that 2015 will see banks move from "resolution mode" to new lending and enforcement.

Top Judgments Registered

15.03.2024

Direct Bloodstock Limited
Address: R/o 39 Priory Way, St Raphaels Manor, Celbridge, Co Kildare
Amount: €127,977.47

06.03.2024

Philliez Limited
Address: R/o Ballymurphy, Navan Road, Dunshaughlin, Co Meath
Amount: €109,909.45

06.03.2024

Alvin Aherne
Address: 6 Corpus Christi Terrce, Ballyoughtragh North, Milltown, Co Kerry
Amount: €109,065.93

15.03.2024

Mark Cowley
Address: 204 Cluain Ri, Ashbourne, Co Meath
Amount: €104,687.34

Limited Company Notices

No records found for this week.

SEARCH OUR DATABASE PLACE YOUR DEBT WITH US SEND A DEMAND LETTER