All mortgage lenders have been banned from taking legal action against borrowers in arrears for one year after the householders have missed their first home loan repayments.
The lenders were written to by the Financial Regulator today informing them the new measures will come into effect from 17 February this year.
The measures now cover sub prime lenders, which had not been covered by a voluntary code of conduct.
In a statement, the Regulator said 'the 12 month requirement does not app... read more »
Homebuyers who lost deposits of up to €20,000 on apartments after a development company collapsed have asked the High Court to increase their refunds under a survival plan.
The High Court has heard the report from the examiner appointed to Laragan Developments on a scheme of arrangement for the company which is part of the Hanley Group.
The court was told the company has a deficit of up to €45m.
Lawyers for the examiner appointed to Laragan developments disclosed how the company has liabi... read more »
Monthly statistics from the Central Bank show the first net fall in mortgage lending since 1990.The figures also show a sharp fall-off in credit card spending.
The figures for April from the Central Bank confirm the property market has slowed to a trickle.
It is the first time that repayments on existing mortgages has been greater that new mortgage lending since the Central Bank began this monthly statistics series in 1990.
The figures show that overall, mortgage lending fell by over â‚... read more »
Apartment owners will have a greater say in the management of their complexes under new legislation published today by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern.The Multi-Unit Developments Bill 2009 outlines legal protections that will affect over 500,000 apartment owners in new and existing complexes.
The Bill will set new standards for the operation of management companies and new rules for developers who build apartments.
Fine Gael welcomed the Bill, but said it was long-overdue.
Measures in... read more »
The latest index from Permanent TSB and the ESRI has shown that house prices fell by almost 2% last month.This brings prices back to levels not seen since the summer months in 2004.
It means that prices nationally have fallen by almost 5% in the first four months of this year.
The average price paid for a house nationally in April 2009 was €248,640, compared with €261,573 in December and a peak of €311,078 in February 2007.
Houses in the first-time buyer category are falling at th... read more »
The Revenue Commissioners has begun writing to tens of thousands of homeowners whose mortgage interest relief has been stopped.
In the April Budget the tax relief was limited to homeowners in the first seven years of their loans.
Revenue is now asking 134,000 homeowners to clarify when their loans started to establish whether the relief still applies to them.
Before last month's budget around 560,000 people qualified for mortgage interest relief.
Half of those receiving it had the re... read more »
AIB has increased its estimate of how much it will have to set aside to cope with bad loans this year to €4.3bn.In a trading update issued to the Irish Stock Exchange, the bank blamed the worsening economic conditions in Ireland for the bigger charge.
It also said mortgage arrears in Ireland were climbing and stood at 2% of total mortgage loans at the end of March, compared with 1.5% at the end of December.
However, AIB said that when the bad debt charges were excluded its trading profit... read more »
The Church of Ireland Primate has criticised some bank directors and executives for indulging in unnecessarily high risk strategies in the current economic crisis and said they should consider their positions.Archbishop Alan Harper told church members there was an urgent need for a completely new ethic in international banking, based on a powerful regulatory system.
Church of Ireland finances were being discussed by members gathered in Armagh for the General Synod.
But it was the fallout f... read more »
It has emerged that 57,000 people currently receiving mortgage interest relief will no longer be entitled to it from tomorrow.
Read the full Revenue statement
For more information from Revenue
According to the Revenue Commissioners, as of the end of last year, there were 562,000 people receiving mortgage interest relief.
However the entitlement is to be suspended from 1 May for everyone except first-time buyers.
The move follows the announcement by the Government in it is supplementar... read more »
Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan has said that this afternoon's Budget will not be easy for anyone, but that it will be fair.Mr Lenihan is to announce the details of the Budget, which is expected to impose extra taxes and spending cuts worth around €3.5bn.
The Cabinet will meet in Government Buildings this morning for a final discussion on the Budget, but at this stage the decisions have already been taken.
After ten sessions, Ministers hope they have a package that can start the recov... read more »
