Commercial Court criticises 'slipshod' Nama debt recovery methods
A Commercial Court judge has criticised the "slipshod" way which Nama went about trying to recover €109m allegedly owed to it by a Galway property developer and his wife.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly has refused the agency’s application for summary judgment against Michael and Claire Finn and he has awarded the couple their legal costs.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly says the commercial court is entitled to expect better from an organisation as well-resourced as Nama, which has such far reaching powers.
He’s found evidential shortcomings in Nama’s bid for summary judgment orders against Galway hotelier and property developer Michael Finn and his wife Claire.
Nama said the couple owes it €109m as a result of loans and liabilities to AIB and Anglo Irish Bank, which were acquired by the agency in 2010.
However, when the Finns questioned the evidence to back up the claim that the loans had been acquired, the documents supplied as proof fell far short of what the judge believed the court was entitled to expect.
Justice Kelly refused to make a summary judgment order and the case will go to a full hearing.
