Lay Litigant’s Currency – A Vexing Issue For Financial Institutions

Borrowers in arrears are resorting to increasingly creative arguments as to why they do not have to repay their loans and why lenders have no right to enforce against them. Some have even argued that the loans were illegally made and that they are entitled to recover from the lender all repayments made. The recent High Court decision in Thomas Kearney v KBC Bank Ireland plc and John Reynolds (in which we acted for the Defendants) may finally put to bed a series of emerging themes in unmeritorious lay litigant banking litigation.

Background to Proceedings

The Plaintiff, Mr Thomas Kearney, was a property investor/developer. Between November 2004 and 2007 he obtained six loans from KBC Bank Ireland plc ("the Bank") to finance the purchase of various buy-to-let properties in Ireland and the UK. The loans were secured to the Bank by way of mortgages.