A HIGH Court judge has sharply criticised the country's leading sub-prime provider for lending to people who cannot afford to repay their home loans.

Mr Justice Brian McGovern was speaking as he granted nine possession orders yesterday in a mounting weekly list that he described as "misery".

He said Start Mortgages would not be in court seeking as many house repossessions if it did not lend to those who were not in a position to repay the loans.

Mr Justice McGovern also said he was shocked that Start and other lenders were seeking "punitive" legal costs against debtors already struggling to meet monthly mortgage payments, clear their arrears and fight evictions.

He described many of the cases that appeared before him yesterday as "hopeless" and appealed to debtors to engage with the courts.

In one of the strongest judicial statements to date on possessions, the judge also said that Start Mortgages, which takes more than half of all High Court possession proceedings, would not be seeking orders if it had been more careful.

Arrears

"I sometimes wonder if the people who have the most cases in the list are here for a reason," Judge McGovern told lawyers during an application by Start to possess the home of a woman with mortgage arrears of some €53,000 and outstanding mortgage liabilities in excess of €400,000.

"They lend money to people who cannot afford to repay.

"If they had been more careful about who they lent money to, they might not be in this position."

In one case, a possession order was granted to Start after a man defaulted and fell into arrears just one month after he drew down his mortgage loan.

In another case, a mother of two with mortgage debts of €190,000 and €18,500 arrears, outlined how she could only afford to pay €100 a week to the specialist lender.

Judge McGovern also raised concerns about legal fees after complaints by a solicitor representing a debtor that homeowners with arrears, which would ordinarily be dealt with by the Circuit Court, were being charged High Court legal costs.

Lenders who are successful in possession cases are entitled to recover their fees as costs.

But the judge also said that he was "shocked" that in addition to standard legal costs run up by both sides, those whose homes are being possessed are also being made liable for additional, premium legal fees between banks and solicitors, a cost normally borne by the client.

Earlier this year another High Court judge ordered an investigation into "excessive" legal fees charged to people fighting to prevent their homes from being repossessed by subprime mortgage lenders.

Complaints

The inquiry follows a series of complaints by hard-pressed homeowners that they are being aggressively pursued by subprime lenders in the High Court -- where legal fees run into thousands of euro -- instead of having their cases dealt with summarily in the Circuit Court.

Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne expressed "serious concern" about the difficulties faced by those who sought to finance a home through sub-prime mortgages after being rejected by mainstream banks.

She demanded a comparison of legal costs in the High Court and Circuit Court after a married couple were ordered to pay €12,100 in legal fees to redeem their mortgage arrears of €8,255.83.

- Jane Last