Mortgage Debt

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 December 2013

Thursday, 12 December 2013

Questions (61)

Lucinda Creighton

Question:

61. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Finance if any assessment has been undertaken on the total outstanding mortgage debt secured on residences here that was sought by creditors in ongoing proceedings before the Courts in advance of the enactment of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill 2013; the total outstanding mortgage debt secured on residences that was sought by creditors in proceedings before the courts since the enactment of the Land and Conveyancing Law Bill 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53625/13]

Written answers

Minister for Finance

The Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill was enacted in July 2013. In its quarterly mortgage arrears and repossession statistics, the Central Bank publishes data on, inter alia, the initiation of legal proceedings to enforce the debt/security on a primary dwelling mortgage by mortgage lenders regulated by the Central Bank. In the year to end June 2013, this data indicates that legal proceedings were issued in respect of 525 mortgage accounts, and in the quarter ending September 2013 such proceedings were issued in a further 1,830 cases. The Central Bank has informed me that information on the level of debt associated with these particular cases is not available.

It should be noted that this data refers only to legal proceedings initiated by lenders. However, I have indicated previously, that the issuance of legal letters by banks cannot in itself be considered to be a sustainable solution under the MART process for a person in mortgage difficulty. Effective engagement between borrower and lender or the utilisation of the new insolvency frameworks may eventually lead to a solution other than repossession even after a case has commenced in the legal system.