Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 March 2017
357. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the status of the work of the Company Law Review Group; if it has considered greater regulation of buy-to-let mortgage receiverships; her views on the need for stronger regulation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12644/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Company Law Review Group (CLRG) is a statutory expert body that monitors, reviews and advises me on company law matters. I set the work programme in consultation with the CLRG at least once in every two years under section 961 of the Companies Act 2014. The current work programme began in June 2016 and runs to the end of May 2018 and work on these matters is ongoing. A copy of the work programme is available on www.clrg.org.
Receivership is a remedy that derives from the courts of equity. The relevant law in relation to receivership is largely made up of rules which the courts have developed by applying general contract law and equitable principles. A receiver has specific statutory duties under section 439 of the Companies Act 2014, which provides that:
(i) receivers must achieve the best price reasonably obtainable at the time of sale; and
(ii) the receiver must not sell by private contract a non-cash asset of a company to a person who is or who, within three years prior to the date of appointment of the receiver, has been, an officer of the company unless the Receiver has given 14 days’ notice of his or her intention to do so to all creditors of the company who are known to him or her or who have been intimated to him or her.
These statutory duties make it imperative that the receiver obtains expert legal and valuation advice in relation to the sale of property, consistent with the duty “to obtain the best price reasonably obtainable”. Breach of a receiver’s statutory duties may result in the receiver being held personally liable for any loss incurred.
The work programme of the CLRG does not include a review of the law where receivers are appointed to buy to let properties. However, the Deputy may wish to note that a cross-departmental working party, chaired by the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, is currently examining, in the context of the Government's Strategy for the Rental Sector, ways in which landlord obligations could be enforced during receiverships.
