The Senate has definitively approved the new rules on mortgage loan, which allow property owners to collect money without giving up bare ownership. It is an alternative source of credit to the classic bank loan and will be the preserve of all citizens who have more than 60 years of age and are in ownership of a property.
Anyone who meets these requirements can ask a bank or a financial intermediary to obtain immediate credit for an amount equal to a percentage of the property's value, on which it is placed a mortgage as a guarantee.
The president of the Finance commission of Palazzo Madama, Mauro Maria Marino, underlines that “the mortgagee he is in no way required to leave the property".
The two parties are therefore free to agree on the terms and conditions of the refund. The obligee can terminate the contract if they occur at least seven episodes of late payment (between the 30th and 180th day from the expiry of the installment), even if not consecutive.
If the parties do not reach an agreement, in three cases the law imposes the full refund in one solution:
– death of the debtor (without prejudice to the possibility of the heirs to intervene to extinguish the debt and repossess the house);
– transfer (even partial) of ownership or other real or enjoyment rights on the property;
– interventions that significantly reduce the value of the property.
If the credit is not repaid within 12 months of the occurrence of one of these conditions, the lender can sell the property at market value (which is reduced by 15% per year until the time of sale).
Marino clarified however that “in the event of the contractor's death it is important to underline that it is not precluded to the heirs the possibility of paying off the debt and regaining full possession of the property. Furthermore, these can personally arrange for the sale of the same within the 12 months following the death".
