My wife mortgaged the house while I was away at sea — skipper
Bank sues couple for €194k over loans ‘given without his consent’
A FISHERMAN’S wife drew down more than €200,000 in bank loans without his consent against the home they shared, the High Court has heard.
Attracta Murray secured a series of property-related loans from Bank of Ireland between 2003 and 2007 during periods when her skipper husband Brian Murray was ‘out at sea’, the court was told.
Her husband, 58, is convinced his signature must have been forged by ‘someone’ when he was supposed to have signed for the loans as he was on a fishing boat some 400 kilometres north-west of Ireland when key bank documents were signed.
His relationship with his wife has ‘deteriorated’ due to the ‘immense distress and upset’ of having to ‘live with his wife’s loan liabilities’ and of being sued by the bank, his barrister Gary McCarthy SC told the court.
In at least one instance, the seasoned skipper says, his wife has ‘admitted and confirmed to me that she forged my signature,’ the court heard.
Asked by the bank’s lawyers if that was a difficult encounter with his wife, Mr Murray told Judge Marie Baker: ‘You wouldn’t want to be there.’
Although he was the household’s ‘sole breadwinner’, his wife ‘at all times dealt with and controlled the day-to-day finances’ and collected all post to their home, Mr Murray says.
Bank of Ireland is now demanding repayment of €194,000 from the couple, who sat on opposite sides of the courtroom yesterday.
Mr Murray sat near his Dublin solicitor Seán Foley.
Mother-of-three Mrs Murray, who is representing herself, sat on the other side of the courtroom.
Despite the court case, they have been together since they were teenagers and are still a couple.
They stand to lose their home which boasts a ‘panoramic view overlooking Donegal Bay’, the court heard.
In recent years, the bank has demanded the couple quit their home and ‘deliver the keys’ to the office of Bank of Ireland’s mortgage division in Dublin, the court heard.
Mr Murray insists he never signed for the loans.
His barrister Mr McCarthy SC told the court: ‘Mr Murray says “someone forged my signature, I knew nothing about it”... There is no way Mr Murray could have signed those documents because he’s out at sea and it doesn’t even look like his signature.’
In her defence, Mrs Murray, 57, says she owes no money to Bank of Ireland as the bank put her under ‘economic duress in order to induce’ her to sign for the €200,000 at a time when she was suffering from depression.
In September 2003, Mrs Murray secured an initial €40,000 from Bank of Ireland – towards the cost of a holiday apartment in Spain – while her husband was ‘out at sea’ for eight days, the court heard.
While it was a ‘joint decision’ with his wife to buy the holiday home, Mr Murray had no idea that loan was being levied against his home in Killybegs, Co. Donegal, he told the court. That initial loan has since been paid off.
Then in May 2007, again while her husband was at sea, Mrs Murray secured further loans totalling €200,000 against the family home – apparently in order to build a new property next to their existing home – without his knowledge, the court heard. No such property was built.
Asked under cross-examination if he had known anything about ‘an approach for mortgage facilities to construct a house next to your family home’, Mr Murray said: ‘No.’
Mr Murray had believed his wife was just going to take out a €30,000 ‘personal’ loan on that second occasion, he says.
The court was shown official fishing logs that prove the fisherman was out of the country – aboard the Catherine R EI6304 vessel – on the relevant dates.
In 2013, the bank lodged its debtrecovery action against the couple. This week it reached a full hearing before Judge Baker.
In his defence, Mr Murray says he never gave Bank of Ireland his consent to the mortgages against his home.
He contends the bank ‘failed to exercise reasonable skill and care’ when advancing the loans and failed to comply with consumer protection laws.
He is counter-suing the bank for compensation for ‘gross negligence’, breach of duty and the ‘significant psychological trauma’ he says he has suffered since being served with proceedings.
Mr McCarthy revealed: ‘He is suffering stress and anxiety in all aspects of his life. He was intending to retire in the not too distant future due to the physical nature of his work – but he now sees this as an impossibility. He is unable to focus properly on his life and work. His confidence has diminished significantly.’
The bank says the couple owe €194,000 because they ‘failed to make the required monthly repayments.’ Yesterday Judge Baker adjourned the case until July for closing arguments from both sides.
Mrs Murray, who co-owns her home with her husband, declined to give evidence herself, despite being warned by Judge Baker that she was potentially in ‘dangerous territory’.
The judge told her: ‘You are a defendant in a serious claim against you... You need to decide if you are going to give evidence... You are in dangerous enough territory in a case like this not to be represented.’
Mrs Murray told the judge she had filed a written defence and did not wish to add to it.
‘400km away when documents signed’