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Mortgage help for Spanish homeowners

Source: Reuters - Mon 4th Jul 2011

Last week the Spanish cabinet met to discuss measures intended to assist homeowners who were having problems meeting high mortgage payments, however consumer groups have criticised the proposals for not going far enough to help those who had fallen victim to rising levels of unemployment and property-based debt due to the burst of the property bubble.

The ruling PSOE, who were badly defeated in May's regional elections, is propsoing to raise the amount legally protected when banks starts to reclaim their debts. This sum will rise from 700 Euros per month to 960 Euros per month.

The PP opposition supported the measure to set the sum slightly higher for families with dependents.

The percentage of the mortgage that can be cancelled if the property is eventually auctioned to cover non-payment will also be reduced from 60 to 50 percent.

Spanish lenders have the legal right to repossess properties and evict owners who are unable to meet repayments, and the homeowner can be pursued for any difference between the value of the property and the mortgage debt.

Spanish mortgage debt almost doubled in the property boom years of 2004 to 2009, as many took advantage of easy lending conditions and rapid price rises. Although bad mortgage debt is only about 2.5% of the total, according to Bank of Spain data, many are finding it difficult to make ends meet.

The Banking Consumer Association, ADICAE, estimates that over 1 million families face severe mortgage payment problems - around 300,000 whose loans have been foreclosed, another 300,000 in the process of foreclosure and around 500,000 having difficulty making payments.

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