Russian citizens must be able to postpone their mortgage interest payments in case of a difficult life situation, announced Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina. It may be a deferment for up to several months – for example, due to loss of job or accident.
The Governor commented that mortgage requires paying off a large amount of money during an extensive period of time, which is a huge responsibility.
“During this long period a difficult situation might happen. It would be right if people were insured against it,” she said in an interview for Komsomolskaya Pravda.
Elvira Nabiullina explained that a respective bill is already in development. As concerns banks, they have not made any proposals yet – moreover, they are against the initiative. It should not be ruled out that some banks may refuse to offer mortgages if the ‘mortgage vacation law’ is passed in Russia.
As of the ten months of 2018, Russians took out 1.17 mio mortgages worth a total of RUR 2.37 tln ($34 bln), according to a preliminary assessment by DOM.RF and FRG. The share of mortgages with default payments delayed by more than 90 days is 1.85%.