Hundreds of people who borrowed from banks have lost their homes since the start of 2008 when recession hit Estonia, as they can no longer afford to repay their mortgages.
Swedbank has sold the collateral of a couple of hundred mortgage debtors at auctions since 2008. "As a rule, people who show no interest in resolving their problems are the ones who have had to give up their property or homes – they don't answer their phones, change their phone numbers and/or ignore letters sent to them by post," said Anne Pärgma, Head of the Residential Mortgage Loan Department of Swedbank. "We've also had cases where people change their places of residence or leave Estonia altogether, and show no interest in their obligations. This means that resorting to extreme measures is the only alternative the bank has left and sometimes it leads to enforced sales."
Head of Business Development in the Area of Private Person Loans of SEB Bank Triin Messimas said last month that the number of cases where the collateral of home loan debtors was sold in the last 2.5 years is less than one hundred. "Enforced sale is something the bank is forced to use when the borrower refuses to cooperate and the loan has been in arrears for a long time," noted Messimas. "Typically, the person's home is not put up for enforced sale, as the first properties sold are summer cottages, flats acquired for rental purposes and other properties," she added.
The Communications Specialist of Sampo Bank Tõnu Talinurm said that the bank sold the collateral of 50 home loan debtors in the first 10 months of this year and the number of similar instances in the last year was 40. The bank did not disclose the number of sales in 2008. Nordea Bank refused to disclose any data about sales of the collateral of home loan debtors in recent years.
Most of the banks remained tight-lipped when asked whether the pinnacle of home losses had finally passed. Only SEB states that the number of clients in payment difficulties decreased this year.
What do you say about this? Believe me, it's only the beginning.
No comments:
Post a Comment