# Question on statute barring BOI / Cabot mortgage



## Carl W (16 Dec 2016)

Hi all,

I lived in Ireland from 2005-2008 and purchased a property for €330000 putting down a deposit of €80000.  Mortgage was with BOI.  I left Ireland in 2008 and relocated back to the UK due to the financial crisis.  I had no opportunity to sell the house without being in negative equity so had no contact with the bank at all apart from one letter in 2011 saying I owed them money. I never heard anything from BOI again, until last week.

Last week I received a letter from BOI stating that as they had had no contact with me around the mortgage they would be passing my debt over to Cabot Financial and they would be in contact in due course.

This week I recieved a standard letter from Cabot stating that the account has been passed to them for collection and was €144,000

I have a couple of questions I'm hoping someone might be able to help with:

From what I have read, mortgages take 12 years before becoming statue barred whereas unsecured debt is only 6.  

Now that the debt has been sold to Cabot Financial Services Ireland does this mean that the debt is now statue barred as the debt is not secured or does the 12 year term still apply?

If the debt is not statute barred how likely are Cabot to progress this and can they do this across international borders?

Timeline
2005 -         House pruchased €330,000 - Deposit paid €80000 - Mortgage BOI for €250,000
2005 - 2008     Mortgage always paid ontime
2008 -         Left Ireland as made redundant / Stopped paying mortgage
2011 -         BOI sent later stating we owed them money for the mortgage
2016 -         BOI letter stating as no contact debt trasfered to Cabot
2016 -         Cabot letter stating they now manage the debt for €144000


Thanks in advance


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## vandriver (16 Dec 2016)

The account being passed to Cabot for collection does not imply that the debt has been sold.
Does the letter state that the debt has been sold?


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## Carl W (16 Dec 2016)

vandriver said:


> The account being passed to Cabot for collection does not imply that the debt has been sold.
> Does the letter state that the debt has been sold?



Good point.  The exact wording is:  Your account has recently been referred to us for collection by the Lender.  We are now responsible for collecting the amount you owe as set out above.

This would imply they are collections only as you correctly state.   This still leaves the question that iIf the debt is not statute barred how likely are Cabot to progress this and can they do this across international borders?


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## Brendan Burgess (16 Dec 2016)

If you still own the house it's a secured loan. 

They could sell it to Cabot but it's still secured. 

It's surprising that they have not initiated repossession proceedings. 

Brendan


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## Carl W (16 Dec 2016)

Brendan Burgess said:


> If you still own the house it's a secured loan.
> 
> They could sell it to Cabot but it's still secured.
> 
> ...



The house has already been sold.  I checked online and it was sold about 3 years ago so it must have gone through the repossession process but I was never notified


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## Brendan Burgess (16 Dec 2016)

Hi

OK, it became an unsecured debt

But I am not sure at what stage its classification changed. 
The date of the order 
The date it was taken into possession 
The date of the sale? 

Brendan


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## Brendan Burgess (16 Dec 2016)

From reading this it seems to be 6 years from the date of the sale of the house 

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/thread...he-bank-does-nothing-or-cant-fit-find.177438/


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## Carl W (16 Dec 2016)

The answer to all of these questions is I don't know as I was never notified by the bank, even though they had my contact details.  I'm going to have a good read through that thread, thanks Brendan.


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## Brendan Burgess (16 Dec 2016)

Carl W said:


> I was never notified by the bank



The Circuit Courts do not grant repossession orders easily.

If they were unable to serve notice on you or if their registered letters were returned to sender, they would have had to apply for substitute service which could have been a note pinned to the door of the premises.

But if you had not paid in years, what's the issue?  Do you feel hard done by that they repossessed your property? 

Brendan


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## elcato (16 Dec 2016)

Carl W said:


> I had no opportunity to sell the house without being in negative equity so had no contact with the bank at all apart from one letter in 2011 saying I owed them money. I never heard anything from BOI again, until last week.


How did they find you ? You must have given them an address at some point. More importantly, did you engage from your current address with either Cobot or the Bank ? If not, don't.


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## Carl W (16 Dec 2016)

No, I'm not feeling hard done by, just stating facts.   As for contact, I'm listed on the electoral register in the UK so can only presume it came from there.


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## elcato (16 Dec 2016)

Carl W said:


> As for contact, I'm listed on the electoral register in the UK so can only presume it came from there.


Yes but barring you having a very unusual name they are/were probably just chancing their arm and sending out a few letters to see if you would bite. Did you answer them in 2011 ?


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## hubble (16 Dec 2016)

I think that there is a strong chance this debt is statute barred.  The action would have accrued when you defaulted. This is when the Statute of Limitations starts. I suspect that a receiver has sold the house leaving the debt unsecured.  You have not acknowledged the debt or made part payment of Principal or Interest within the last six years.


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## Carl W (16 Dec 2016)

elcato said:


> Yes but barring you having a very unusual name they are/were probably just chancing their arm and sending out a few letters to see if you would bite. Did you answer them in 2011 ?



My name is quite unusual so could be easily found but at no point have I ever contacted or responded to them, even after the 2011 letter.


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## Carl W (16 Dec 2016)

hubble said:


> I think that there is a strong chance this debt is statute barred.  The action would have accrued when you defaulted. This is when the Statute of Limitations starts. I suspect that a receiver has sold the house leaving the debt unsecured.  You have not acknowledged the debt or made part payment of Principal or Interest within the last six years.



Is there any way to find out, without asking the bank


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## hubble (16 Dec 2016)

Carl W said:


> Is there any way to find out, without asking the bank


Don't contact the Bank or Cabot.  Do not respond to any correspondence.  There is no way of being certain as to whether a cause of action is statute barred other than a court ruling.  However, based upon what you say, the Debt is likely to be statute barred.


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## Carl W (17 Dec 2016)

I have this morning received another letter from the bank stating that I now owe them another €25000 in missed mortgage payments from the time I stopped paying the mortgage until the property was sold.


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## hubble (17 Dec 2016)

Carl W said:


> I have this morning received another letter from the bank stating that I now owe them another €25000 in missed mortgage payments from the time I stopped paying the mortgage until the property was sold.


You quite possibly do owe those monies.  However it is doubtful that the Debt is enforceable given the Statute of Limitations.  Ignore that correspondence.  If proceedings are issued then you will obviously have to defend them.  Hold tough!


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## TLO (18 Dec 2016)

+1 on what hubble is saying.  It is really important that you don't acknowledge, reply or respond in any way to these letters, or any other form of communication.  To do so would reset the 6 year Statute of Limitations.  The bank is getting really anxious as the 6 year period from 2011 is nearly up.  Ignore, ignore, ignore.


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