A dairy farmer – who has been farming with his father since he was 16 years old – and his partner have secured a High Court interlocutory injunction against a receiver in relation to the sale of their farmland.
Michael Walsh and Alice Mullins who own five plots of land, four in Cork and one in Clare, secured the injunction in relation to farmland, which a receiver, Ken Tyrell, who was appointed by Everyday Finance DAC, trading as Link Financial, had offered for sale through an online auction website.
Two of the plots of land comprise farmland and are currently being farmed by Walsh and Mullins and the other three plots of land are commercial forestry.
Walsh and Mullins are “in default in repaying” commercial loans which they had originally taken out with AIB, Everyday Finance DAC, trading as Link Financial, subsequently took over the “mortgages executed” between the couple and AIB.
They “fell into into arrears” in repaying the loans “for which the mortgages had been
given as security” and a meeting was held with AIB in November 2013 to discuss their indebtedness.
Walsh and Mullins have made “no payment in respect of the loans since 2018”.
Loans
Everyday Finance DAC, trading as Link Financial, through its agent, BCM Global ASI Limited, “made a formal demand for repayment of the sums of €1,811,375.51 and $330,934.17 said to be owing on foot of the loans” in February 2024.
Following this a receiver, Ken Tyrell, was appointed in April 2024.
Walsh and Mullins had sought an injunction, which came before the High Court, to restrain the receiver from selling, marketing or advertising for sale in relation to the five plots (also referred to as properties).
According to the judgement on the application for an injunction published by Justice Rory Mulcahy, under the terms of the original loan offer from AIB “the security for these facilities was to be all sums mortgages over the five folios in which the plots of land the subject of these proceedings are comprised (the mortgages), together with two further all sums mortgages over unrelated properties”.
High Court
The High Court judge noted in his judgement that Walsh and Mullins complained that the “manner of sale proposed” by Everyday Finance DAC, trading as Link Financial and Ken Tyrell would lead to “the properties being sold at a significant undervalue”.
Justice Mulcahy stated: “Moreover, they say that a sale of the type proposed is most unusual for farming or forestry lands, highlighting the failure of the defendants to survey the lands or provide prospective purchasers with the opportunity to do so”.
The High Court judge’s judgement had also detailed that the description provided by the receiver in relation to the online auction had outlined an advised minimum value (AMV) for the two plots of farmland at €830,000, and the total AMV for the forestry lands was €515,000.
However the judgement also stated that Walsh and Mullins had provided the court with a “valuation from a local auctioneer who values the properties at €2,840,000, more than double the AMV proposed by the defendants”.
They also provided an affidavit from an agricultural adviser which details the “usual practice” when selling farmland by auction, and also what information a “prudent buyer” would expect to receive when buying forestry lands.
“It is claimed that the proposed method of sale departs materially from the usual practice and that inadequate information has been provided to prospective buyers,” the judgement also outlined.
Justice Mulcahy also noted in his judgement that Michael Walsh had said that “he is a dairy farmer and has been farming the farmland with his father since he was 16, some 45 years ago”.
The High Court judge also outlined some of Walsh’s remarks that “the herd size has more than doubled since he took over the farm, and he has invested significant time and resources in upgrading it”.
” The lands are directly connected to the family home, and the principal (though not sole) access to the lands is by way of an entrance from the family home.
“Dairy farming provides the plaintiffs’ livelihood, and the properties are the only farmland they own.
“They support their two sons, who they hope will inherit the farm,” the judge noted.
Justice Mulcahy said he was “satisfied that the farmland at issue in this application does have special value” to Michael Walsh and Alice Mullins.
He granted an injunction in relation to the sale of the farmland but said that an order restraining the sale “of the forestry lands is not appropriate” and advised that the matter will come before the High Court again later this month.
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