President Andrej Kiska (source: TASR)
Kiska did not sign the draft into law, returning it to parliament for debate. He opposed the provision of maximum costs for premature repayment of a housing loan, set at one percent. However, the parliament did not accept his comments, and thus clients will be able to repay their loans prematurely, according to this provision. Opposition MPs noted that if the president has any reservations, he should have included his comments and proposals into the draft.
Other changes include better informing on how much clients repay from the interests and how much from the principal sum until the next change of interest rate. According to the law, banks will have to provide such information even before the signing of loan, the TASR newswire wrote. Such information will be offered also in cases when clients will wish to repay a loan from another loan.
The new law also bans creditors from asking the customer to vouch for the loan with a value higher than is the obligation stemming from the loan contract, thus protecting consumers from disproportionate requirements of creditors.
Consumers shall also get better information on the loan offered, including the type of interest rate, total sum of the housing loan, or potential future costs not included into the total costs of the client.
The amendment enables clients to withdraw form the housing loan contract within 14 calendar days without naming a reason, which is an important tool to protect consumers. It also introduces a new European standardised form (called EESIS) and improves the assessment of client’s creditworthiness. Creditors will be obliged to render data and information on loans for at least one electronic data register, to make financial institutions behave cautiously when offering loans.
The amendment also changes the conditions for providing loans in foreign currencies, complaints, warranty claims, conditions for out-of-court settlements, as well as oversight of the housing loan providers, TASR wrote.
