Estranged couple with €1.5m Spanish villa agrees to sell off house in Dublin
A separated couple with a €1.5m Spanish holiday home have agreed to sell one of two Dublin properties they own in order to settle a €2m mortgage debt with KBC bank.
Judge Jacqueline Linnane heard in the Circuit Civil Court yesterday that Gerard May, who runs a roofing business, and his ex-partner Mary May had each been living at a different Dublin address following their separation.
The court was told that neither of the Mays had made mortgage repayments on either property from July 2016 to January 2019. Judge Linnane heard that a payment of €1,400 had been made in January before proceedings were issued in February of this year by KBC bank.
Barrister Padraic Hogan, counsel for Mr May, told the court that his client had been anxious not to sell his house at Coldwater Lakes, Saggart, Co Dublin, as it had been his main home.
Mr Hogan, who appeared with McCanny Solicitors, said Mr and Ms May owned a holiday home in Marbella, Spain, and hoped for an opportunity to sell the Spanish property in order to make a payment to KBC bank.
Judge Linnane said that due to the fact there had been someone else living in the Marbella home who had been paying its mortgage for the past few years, and that it had been signed over to Ms May, it could lead to a three-corner fight.
Following negotiations outside court, Mr Hogan told Judge Linnane that all parties had agreed to an order for possession being granted on the property at Woodstown Rise, Ballycullen Road, Knocklyon, Dublin 16, which had been occupied by Ms May.
Judge Linnane granted a six- month stay on the repossession order to allow time for the house to be sold.
Keith Rooney, counsel for KBC, told the court that the Mays had received a loan of €555,382 from KBC bank for the purchase of the Knocklyon residence, which now had arrears of €166,586.
Judge Linnane also heard that the Saggart property occupied by Mr May had been bought with a loan of €1.5m from KBC and now had arrears of over €700,000.
Mr Hogan was granted an adjournment on any decision on the application for repossession of the Saggart property. Counsel said he had a technical point relating to the fact Judge Linnane had not been provided with any official documentation to prove that KBC had a right to seek the money from the Mays after the bank changed its name to KBC Bank Ireland Plc.