Representatives of vulture funds were subjecting some Monaghan householders in mortgage arrears to intimidation and “bully boy” tactics, Independent local public representative Seamus Treanor claimed this week. Councillor Treanor called at Monday’s meeting of the Monaghan Municipal District for an intervention by Minister for Finance Michael McGrath TD over what he described as “the extortionist interest rates being charged by vulture funds in our country”. Councillor Treanor said that these rates could be up to 10%, while the average bank rate was around 4%.
“When the banking crisis hit some years ago, some lending institutions offloaded their mortgages to cash-rich vulture funds,” the Independent representative stated. “This was disgraceful – the banks should have offered first refusal on these mortgages to the householders but instead the banks, with the full blessing of the Government, went ahead and sold out to the vulture funds.” Councillor Treanor recalled a previous motion which was sent by the Monaghan local authority body pleading with the Government for first refusal for mortgage holders. The motion was ignored. “If this had happened, mortgage repayments would have been between €700- €900 per month. Today some unfortunate families are being made to pay up to €1,700 per month which is totally….
