Pensioners evicted from their home today!!

panama wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/pensioners-bought-at-least-18-homes-on-property-splurge-3087120.html

for those that cant follow the URL


THE pensioner and his wife forcibly evicted from their palatial home are major landlords -- with a nationwide portfolio of apartments.
Brendan (71) and Asta Kelly (63) had their home in one of Dublin's most exclusive neighbourhoods repossessed on Wednesday after failing to pay off a €2m mortgage from Anglo Irish Bank.
Bailiffs dragged the couple from the lavish detached five-bedroom house in St Matthias Wood, Killiney, Co Dublin. They have since been camped outside the property in protest.
The Irish Independent has learned their former home is just one of at least 18 different properties they bought around the country in an acquisitions binge since the early 1990s.
Mr Kelly, an ex-accountant, last night denied the couple had been the authors of their own misfortune, saying everybody in the country pushed themselves too far financially during the boom years.
"Everybody in Ireland overstretched, we didn't buy all of our properties during the boom.
"A lot of them were bought before the boom," Mr Kelly said
The couple insisted they were unable to move into one of their other properties as these were all currently leased out.
"Those properties are let and people have leases and cannot be disturbed. I am a landlord by profession and those properties are let," Mr Kelly said.
And the couple claimed it had been impossible to sell off any of their apartments to help pay the Anglo debt because of the depressed property market.
Mrs Kelly said the couple had put their Killiney home on the market two years ago but were unable to sell it.
Records indicate the couple borrowed heavily just before the financial collapse.
Five of their apartments -- three in Dublin, one in Carlow and another in Limerick -- were remortgaged in March 2008. A sixth apartment, in Dublin, was remortgaged that September.
All of the borrowings were with Irish Life & Permanent.
The couple also took a mortgage out against nine other apartments, all in Dublin, with IL&P in June 2007.
Some of the properties are in Dublin's leafy neighbourhoods -- Donnybrook, Ballsbridge, Stillorgan and Rathmines.
A two-bedroom apartment in those suburbs is estimated to have been worth between €400,000 and €700,000 in 2008, but are now valued between €200,000 and €300,000.
Rental income from such properties is currently between €1,300 and €1,500 a month.
Sligo-born Mr Kelly and his German-born wife, a former teacher, spoke to the Irish Independent from a tent they have put up outside their former home.
Mr Kelly said the properties were meant to be the couple's retirement nest egg, and blamed bailiffs for adopting 19th century tactics.
"The bank are not doing anything illegal, what I am objecting to is 19th century eviction tactics. We were dragged out of our home -- it could have been 1860," he said.
The couple, who have been married for 40 years and don't have any children, lived in Germany for 23 years where they ran a successful business in the tourist resort of Sylt, selling Irish textiles to holidaymakers.
Support
Mr Kelly said all his properties have dropped in value and he questioned how the couple could repay their debts.
"Property didn't just go down it crashed. You can't sell them at even a third of the price. So what are we to do, how are we supposed to pay off loans?
"We want to get back into our own house. My office is there. I have no livelihood until I get back into my home. We have to get back in and we are standing our ground."
Mr Kelly claimed he had received 44 text messages of support, and insisted they will find a way to make money again.
"Life has changed for us obviously as we are living on the street," Mr Kelly said.
- Colm Kelpie and Edel O'Connell

Thoie wrote: »

I have a lot more sympathy for your couple - they know what needs to be done, and are willing to do it before they end up on the street. I'm puzzled about "coming after their house" though. Did they put their home up as collateral against the other properties?

Well they have all loans with the same lender, so if they fell into difficulty, that is the best option the bank has to recover a large portion of the overall debt. That house is probably worth 6/7 other houses. Don't know if it's officially down as collateral...

philstar wrote: »

i wonder how pat kenny will spin it..with his dalkey pad fiasco

I'd say he's already holed up inside claiming squatter's rights. He'd do anything for a free gaff, him.

Does anyone know if they had been paying anything back to the bank at all over the last 2 years?

No sympathy for them. They had two years in which to secure one of their other properties to live in!

I wish all the other people that were evicted had the same option!

This couple were one of many who have caused the problem we face today! Couple with no children and 19-20 houses including the €2m worth home, even after all the downfall in the market.

What were they thinking of borrowing so much in their 60's?? Pure greed!

Why don't we see this kind of media attention on an ordinary punter who only scraped enough to buy a family home?

Why don't we see this kind of attention from politicians about Priory Hall residents who are facing bankruptcy as a result of the greed of the developer and lack of action and enforcement by the county council?

The question was never asked if they even showed up in court when the order was signed and stay put on it or was it done in default? I am sure no judge would sign the order if they tried to work with the bank in a reasonable manner. Owing over €2m at 71 years of age does beg a question of the term of the mortgage and so on....

Let's face it, it is highly unlikely the couple will be able to pay it back over the next 30 years!

Furthermore, they stated this was to be their retirement nest. Did they not have enough from the sale of their business in Germany that they than decided to so heavily invest and mortgage themselves way above their means and realistic expectations.

I bet anything this was a very smart business man who though they can play old pensioner card and get away scot free.

Also the level of anger about the way the bailiff's handled the situation is shocking. They were well with in their rights and also the man did not hep the case. For someone so fragile and old, as they would like to be perceived, he acted very stupidly. He could have done the same protest by peacefully walking out but than he would not have gotten this reaction and he knows it!

goodie2shoes wrote: »

could this guy be Ireland's Mahatma Ghandi or Che Guevara, fighting for oppressed people throughout the land ??????:)

I did actually laugh to myself when he compared himself to Ghandi in the "Shocking" :rolleyes: footage youtube clip!!

Does anyone know his media schedule for today, I seem to keep missing him whenever he goes on the radio??

I reckon he might be on the late late tonight, get the popcorn out!

leggo wrote: »

They're not going to take money from you, though.

If this couple doesn't pay their mortgage then who does?
The taxpayers.

leggo wrote: »

Clearly. If anything, if successful this will push the issue of debt forgiveness back on the table. No judge in their country is going to set a precedent with the "Ah god, but they're so old" ruling that allows them to live in their home, free of payment, at the taxpayer's expense. So your fears aren't founded in reality.

Debt forgiveness.
FFS.
Debt doesn't get forgiven.
It gets passed around.

And guess who is carrying the can when the music stops?
That's right ... The taxpayers.