Loan Portfolio Price A Relevant Factor In Irish Unjust Enrichment Claim

In this update, Kevin Harnett and Karole Cuddihy examine the recent decision of the Irish Court of Appeal in Promontoria (Aran) Ltd v Sheehy [2020] IECA 104.

Introduction

In our previous client update we reported on the High Court decision in Promontoria (Aran) Ltd v Sheehy ([2019] IEHC 613), in which the court ordered discovery of documents relating to the price paid by a plaintiff for the transfer of a loan portfolio from the original lender. That decision has been affirmed by the Court of Appeal in a decision handed down on 16 April 2020 (Promontoria (Aran) Ltd v Sheehy [2020] IECA 104).

The courts have held that a creditor is entitled to rely on redacted documents, if the unredacted parts establish the transfer of the loans. Generally therefore a borrower needs a good reason as to why the court should order documents to be unredacted. It is not enough for a borrower to say that there might be something in the redacted portions of the document which would