Jurisdiction of the Circuit Court in mortgage disputes

Question 1

S.101 LCLRA 2009

Answer 1

Applications for possession and sale of land subject to a housing loan mortgage fall exclusively within the jurisdiction of the Circuit Court

Question 2

s.3 LCLRA 2009

Answer 2

Circuit Court jurisdiction for pre-2009 mortgages

Question 3

BOI v Finnegan

Answer 3

Prior to 2016, the CC had a jurisiction limited to land disputes involving land with a rateable valuation of €254. Issue: how can CC have jurisdiction over a housing loan?

The defendant objected to possession proceedings arguing that the court lacked the jurisdiction.

Murphy J held that the defendant’s home was neither rated nor rateable, preventing the CC from hearing the proceedings.

Question 4

BOI v Hanley

Answer 4

Noonan J diverted from Finnegan and held that the CC could simply “estimate” the rateable valuation of land in accordance with the valuation legislation.

Question 5

Permanent TSB v Lanagan

Answer 5

IECA: Hogan J applied Finnegan to find that the the jurisdiction of the CC was ousted by virtue of the fact that the premises concerned was declared not to be rateable.

IESC: Clarke CJ reversed Hogan J’s judgment. The Valuation Act 2001 made it possible to obtain a rateable valuation for the purposes of establishing the CC’s jurisdiction.

Question 6

Courts Act 2016

Answer 6

• Passed in response to the IECA decision of Lanagan, extends Circuit Court jurisdiction to €3,000,000.
• Rebuttable presumption that the court has jurisdiction (i.e. that the value of the land is below 3 mil).
• If greater, it goes to the IEHC.