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A resident approached the Bank of Lithuania who did not agree with a commercial bank’s decision not to defer mortgage payments due to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bank of Lithuania launched an investigation, during which it became clear that a person had requested deferral of payments several times over the past two years. On one occasion, the bank had deferred payments for 5 months, in addition to late payments, and assets and accounts compromised with the bank are seized.
In recent weeks, there are days when we do not receive any requests, – said Sonata Gutauskaitė-Bubnelienė, member of the Board of SEB Bank.
Asked to postpone more than once
Resident with spouse in 2006, he entered into a mortgage loan agreement and received a loan of more than 50 thousand euros for the repair of the house, pledging his property for this purpose. It was agreed with the bank that the loan repayment term is 2020. May.
Photo from 123rf.com/Real Estate
Two years ago, the family asked the bank for a 12-month deferral of loan payments. due to the deterioration of the financial situation and the illness of a relative. The bank agreed to defer payment of contributions for 5 months without changing the term and amount of contributions.
After this period, the terms of the credit agreement were changed in the same way as the installments. The amendments were signed by both the borrower and his spouse. However, in 2020 at the beginning of March, even before the quarantine was announced, the family once again asked the bank for a deferral of payment of contributions for 12 months. in accordance with the Law on Credit Related to Real Estate of the Republic of Lithuania.
The resident then asked the bank to take into account the announced quarantine and postpone the payment of contributions for 15 months. due to force majeure circumstances. 15 days later. He told the bank he was sick and had personal problems, no income from work, and on April 30. the consumer has already requested a deferral of contributions under the Moratorium.
123rf.com nuotr./Paskola
The banks that signed it agreed to allow all private clients to defer their mortgage payments for up to 1 year. due to the resulting emergency and quarantine.
The Bank of Lithuania did not trust the customer.
The plaintiff told the bank that he was still sick and that his sickness benefit amounted to just over 60 percent. their earnings fell by more than 40%.
The bank’s client requested to postpone the payment of the loan installments for another 12 months. When the bank refused to comply with repeated requests for deferral of the payment of credit contributions, the applicant requested the Bank of Lithuania to investigate the dispute.
The Bank of Lithuania learned that the bank’s customer was in financial difficulties even before the quarantine was announced. Furthermore, the applicant has not shown that the decrease in his income is due to the situation related to the declared pandemic. Therefore, the Bank of Lithuania rejected the applicant’s claims.
Julius Kalinskas / 15min photo / Lithuanian bank building in Vilnius
They don’t go to the banks every day
Bank representatives say the wave of applicants has almost subsided, there are only isolated cases. The moratorium, which allows for quick and easy deferral of repayment of existing loans, began in April and was scheduled to run until July 1. In July it was extended until September 30 of this year.
After its extension, private clients who have lost their job or part of their income due to a virus outbreak can continue to defer payment of mortgage payments for up to 12 months, consumer loan or lease payments for up to 6 months, paying only interest.
SEB Bank announces that it has already postponed more than 2,100 loans to private clients. “We received the largest number of requests for deferment at the beginning of the quarantine, now we are receiving less and less, for example, in August we received a little more than 30 requests to defer loans for housing. In recent weeks, there are days when we did not receive any requests, ”said Sonata Gutauskaitė-Bubnelienė, member of the board of directors of SEB Bank and director of retail banking at SEB Baltic.
Swedbank representative Saulius Abraškevičius reported that the bank still receives inquiries about the deferral of mortgage loan payments, but that they are isolated.
“We did not record additional activations. The largest wave of requests for deferral was during the first weeks of quarantine, when there was a lot of uncertainty. At that time, there were residents who wanted to check the ‘fuses’ to see if contributions could be deferred, but in reality they did not formalize the postponement itself, “he said.
According to the Lithuanian Banking Association (LBA), from mid-March to August the country’s credit institutions reserved more than 280 million. repayment of mortgages worth EUR.
Requests for deferral of loan installments were received mainly during the first months of quarantine, after which their number gradually decreased.
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