The government decision also brings new stipulations to the program, thus, lenders included in the First Home program cannot accept a financing request if it triggers the exceeding of the assigned ceiling, otherwise the lender will be responsible for solving such situations.
From the start of the program, in 2009, until May 2016, over 178,000 guarantees have been granted, representing a total volume of guarantees of nearly RON15 billion, which corresponds to financings worth RON29.8 billion.
During the parliamentary debates on the debt discharge bill, in the first four months of the year, the demand for guarantees under the First Home program registered a sharp increase. A total 13,100 guarantees, worth RON1.2 billion, were granted until May 1, 2016, compared with guarantees of nearly RON668 million and of RON536 million, respectively, granted in the same periods in 2015 and 2014.
The law on law debt discharge, allowing retail mortgage borrowers to return real estate collateral to banks in exchange for writing off their loans, came into force on May 13.