Russian banks are faced with issuing two or more preferential mortgages per person. About it reported Izvestia citing sources in the financial market. The information was also confirmed DOM.RF.
The publication reminds that from January 6, 2023, a borrower cannot take out more than one mortgage for new buildings at 8%. If at the time of signing the agreement the client already had a loan issued with preferential terms, then only the bank in which the loan was issued first will receive compensation.
Unscrupulous borrowers took advantage of the vulnerability of banks in interacting with the credit history bureau (BKI) – information is updated there on average within three days. If a client managed to get approval from another organization, two loans with state support were issued for him at once, the publication’s interlocutor explained.
The availability of a second preferential loan from a client may not become clear immediately, but only at the stage of submitting reports. This scheme is known to banks, but it is now impossible to completely eliminate such situations without deteriorating customer service, added another source from a credit institution.
It is noted that having a soft loan in your portfolio with a rate of 8% while the key rate is 13% is very expensive. If banks are not reimbursed, they not only lose profits, but also suffer a loss of 5% of the loan amount. “The scheme was not widespread, but a number of similar cases were identified,” noted Svetlana Nekrasova, managing director of Dom.rf.
Often, banks could determine by the annual loan percentage what type of mortgage was issued to the borrower. However, such checks do not give a 100% result, because developers also actively use rate subsidies.
Clear signs of preferential mortgages were added to credit histories only from October 1, 2023; there are no statistics on this indicator yet, noted Nikolai Filippov, director of risk methodology and data analytics of the united credit bureau.
From September 9, 2023, the government gave lenders the right to increase rates on preferential mortgages to market levels if the borrower had already applied for one with another bank. This scheme was introduced by analogy with the Far Eastern Mortgage and IT Mortgage, noted in DOM.RF. That is, in fact, the problem was solved, but banks still cannot receive reimbursement for previously issued loans, since the law does not have retroactive effect.
Senior Director of ACRA Financial Institutions Ratings Group Irina Nosova notes that in order to eliminate the problem of time lag, ideally the entire process should take place online.
At the moment, there is no judicial practice in Russia on the issue of double registration of preferential mortgages. The lender may demand that the client repay the loan early, but it is not a fact that the borrower will be able to do this, noted the publication’s interlocutor in the banking market.
According to Stanislav Danilov, partner of the Pen&Paper Bar Association, if it is possible to identify abuse of rights on the part of the borrower, banks have the right to demand that the contracts be declared invalid. Plaintiffs can prove that they were misled.
Vice-President of the Association of Russian Banks (ADB) Alexey Voylukov summarized that despite the fact that the scheme was stopped, the risk of not receiving reimbursement from the budget still remains for all preferential mortgage programs. For example, if a person no longer meets their conditions.
October 17 Central Bank reportedthat despite promotion down payment from 15 to 20%, in September 2023, issuances under preferential mortgage programs reached their maximum in the entire history of existence. They accounted for 60% of the total number of mortgage loans. Demand was fueled by rising rates on unsubsidized loans, fears of an imminent winding down or significant tightening of program conditions, as well as fears of rising inflation.
