This woman took on her bank and won

A Mullingar woman is celebrating after her mortgage lender did not proceed with its application to repossess her house.

A round of applause rang around the Registrar’s Court in Mullingar on Friday July 10 after the agent representing Sandra Daly’s lender indicated that the institution was not proceeding with claim.

County Registrar Elizabeth Sharkey consented to the agent’s request.

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, a jubilant Ms Daly, who lives in Newtown Lawns, claims that her lender’s decision not to go ahead is a direct consequence of the recent judgement of the Financial Services Ombudsman that it committed 26 breaches of the Central Bank’s Code of Conduct for Mortgage Arrears (CCMA) against her.

A legal executive and a member of the Westmeath branch of the National Land League, she says that her story is “not an isolated case by any means”.

“Michael Noonan and Enda Kenny recently initiated an investigation into seven of the top banks in relation to the CCMA and they were all found to be not compliant with the code.

“They are threatening to name and shame but if I broke the law, I’d be named and shamed.

“I’ve been looking at a lady’s file over the weekend and I completed it yesterday evening and I’ve found what I believe are 37 breaches of the CCMA. I’ve looked at a lot of files and I’ve haven’t seen one compliant one from any bank.
“It’s the most powerful tool that someone has to fight the banks.”

Buoyed by her victory against her lender, Ms Daly now facilitates workshops on the CCMA. Most people who lose their homes do so because they don’t put up any resistance, Ms Daly says.

“I would urge people to just appear in court. If you don’t turn up, the gavel will come down and they will take their home from you.”

Ms Daly believes that mortgage lenders are “riding roughshod” over the CCMA because most people are unaware that it exists.

As for her own future, says that she is going to seek a meeting with her lender in the coming weeks and is “confident” that a deal can be agreed.

“I am well within my rights to seek damages from them and I’m going to ponder that,” she said.