Arrangement for Cork widow to deal with €2.4m debt

A personal insolvency arrangement has been approved by the High Court to allow a 70-year-old widow to deal with €2.4m of debt.

The approval, by Mr Justice Alexander Owens, will also allow retired shopkeeper Marian Phillips to remain at her home at Kenley Close, Model Farm Rd, Cork.

The court heard that Mrs Phillips got into financial difficulties due to the high interest rates being charged on loans.

Her creditors include Start Mortgages DAC, which was owed €2m, Cabot Financial, the Revenue Commissioners, a property management company, and a solicitor firm.

Under the PIA, four buy-to-let residential properties, three in Cork and one in Clonmel, in Co Tipperary, and valued at just over €1m, are to be sold for the benefit of the woman’s secured creditors.

The remainder of her debts are to be written off.

She will also enter into a State-approved mortgage-to-rent/social tenancy arrangement in relation to her main private residence, a semi-detached, three-bedroomed house worth €345,000.

The PIA, which is to be 24 months in duration, was formulated by Ms Phillip’s personal insolvency practitioner, Mitchell O’Brien, who was represented in the proceedings by Keith Farry Bl.

Counsel told the court that the PIA was in the best interests of all relevant parties, was a better option than having her adjudicated a bankrupt, and would, on its completion, allow Mrs Phillips to return to solvency while being able to remain in her home.

Mr Justice Owens approved the proposal.