Senate ratifies housing loan restructuring measure
By Veronica Uy
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 22:09:00 08/27/2008
Filed Under: Housing (New Products), Legislation
MANILA, Philippines—The Senate ratified Wednesday a bill restructuring the housing loans of some 300,000 delinquent borrowers and 849 community associations.
Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, chairman of the Senate Committee on Urban Planning, Housing, and Resettlement who shepherded the bill in the upper chamber, said that after the House of Representatives ratifies the same bill, the President is expected to sign it into law soon, perhaps next week.
The bicameral conference committee last week passed a harmonized version of the measure.
Zubiri said the bill will prevent the "massive ejectment of delinquent borrowers."
The measure, among other things, condones the payment of penalty and surcharge fees and a big portion of the interest fees. It also extends the maximum term of the restructured loan up to the difference between the borrower's age at the time of application and 70 years, up from 65 years.
The bill seeks to address delinquent borrowers, which account for about 90 percent of Pag-IBIG borrowers. It defines delinquent as those who have not paid their amortizations for three months.
Borrowers who have not paid any amortization at all and those whose principal exceeds P2.5 million are not qualified.
Accounts wherein the housing unit has been abandoned for a year, or wherein the title has already been transferred to a lending agency are also not qualified for loan restructuring.
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