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A farmer in Munster has expressed dismay after his loan was sold by AIB to Everyday Finance, a subsidiary of so-called vulture fund Cerberus.
The farm loan was re-structured in 2016 but despite repeated requests by the farmer AIB did not provide with final details for loan repayments.
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“I borrowed to buy a non-residential farm,” the farmer told the Irish Farmers Journal.
“In 2009 the loan was put in place. I started off at €1.5m on the farm and €416,905 to build a farmhouse. As of 2016 it was down to just below €700,000 on the farm and €135,000 on the house.”
“There was no co-operation from AIB, it was one-way traffic.”
“I’m not looking for one cent of a write down. I’m an honourable person who pays their debts.”
In emails seen by the Irish Farmers Journal when they visited the farmer and his solicitor, AIB confirms that loan restructuring had been agreed in December 2016. However, details of the restructure were never given to the farmer in order for him to make repayments. In January 2018, the farmer was told that final letters were “being prepared”, in May 2018 the bank apologised for the delay but that the relevant people were “out of the office” and in December 2018, AIB stated that a “final draft” was being sent to their legal team “for review”.
The matter has been ongoing for almost three years and in January 2019, the farmer’s solicitor informed AIB that he would be forced to raise the issue with the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman.
In April 2019, the farmer received a letter informing him that his loan had been classed as “non-performing” and included in the AIB loan sale to Everyday Finance.
In his opinion, the farmer feels that his loan has been sold due to AIB’s “uncooperative behaviour”. However, he is still hopeful for a resolution and has been told by AIB in the last week that there is a window for having his loan sale overturned by June 7.
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