There are hidden charges, loan renewal may not be successful or affect personal credit
There are many risks hidden in business loan-for-house loan
Motivation for investigation
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission recently announced 8 administrative penalty tickets, of which 5 were due to the illegal flow of personal business loans into the real estate market and the imprudence of the personal business loan system.
In recent years, with the country's increased support for small and micro enterprises and the gradual decline in the interest rate quoted in the loan market, the operating loan interest rate of many commercial banks has been lowered to below 4%, which is lower than the first home mortgage loan interest rate in many places, and much lower than Second home loan interest rate.
Due to the large interest rate difference, some intermediaries are active in the front line of promoting business loans, fooling the masses into converting mortgage loans with higher interest rates into business loans with lower interest rates, claiming that they can save a lot of interest.
However, is there such a good thing?
What kind of risks are hidden behind the business loan replacement housing loan?
The "Rules of Law Daily" reporter launched an investigation.
□ Zhang Shoukun, a trainee reporter of this newspaper
□ Our reporter Chen Lei
"We can handle 'on-lending interest rate cuts', which is especially suitable for you." Recently, Wang Rui (pseudonym), who lives in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, received a call from an intermediary engaged in capital turnover services.
The other party said that compared with the current housing loan interest rate, the operating loan interest rate is as low as about 3.2%. If she chooses to replace it, she can save tens of thousands of yuan in loan interest every year.
Wang Rui was moved.
Last year, she bought a second-hand house with a total price of about 2.5 million yuan, a pure commercial loan interest rate of 5.5%, and a monthly payment of more than 8,000 yuan. She felt particularly stressed.
Wang Rui quickly became interested when he heard the method of "replacing housing loans with business loans" introduced by the intermediary.
The intermediary told her that business loan is a loan product launched by commercial banks for small and medium-sized enterprises or individual industrial and commercial households. .
It is understood that the basic conditions for applying for a business loan are that the applicant must be the legal representative or the largest shareholder of an enterprise, and the business qualification of the company must have reached more than one year.
At present, many intermediaries in the market also claim that unqualified lenders can also get money smoothly and save money through some "private operations".
However, a reporter from the "Rules of Law Daily" recently investigated and found that there are not only many hidden charges for operating loans to replace housing loans, but also a series of unknown risks in the future, such as disrupting the order of the financial market, which may have an irreversible impact on the credit of home buyers.
Loan-for-loan
Claims to reduce loan repayment costs
The reporter found in interviews that many people have received promotional text messages or phone calls from financial intermediaries and real estate intermediaries, saying that they can exchange housing loans for business loans to achieve the purpose of reducing interest rates.
It is understood that business loans are mainly used to support the business development of small and micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households. The loan amount is generally 70% of the collateral or even higher, and the financing threshold and interest rate are relatively low. The loan interest rate issued by banks to small and micro enterprises It is generally below 4%, and some banks can even achieve about 3%, which is lower than the interest rate of the first home in the real estate market, especially the second home.
A bank insider told reporters that when a small and micro enterprise applies for a business loan, the bank will require the business license of the enterprise to be at least one year old, have an actual business location, and the business flow can cover the loan principal and interest repayment.
In addition, the property used for the mortgage is subject to the settlement of the previous loan.
But these constraints seem easy to some intermediaries.
Ms. Li, the loan officer of a real estate agency in Beijing, introduced to reporters that mortgage loans are usually converted into business loans through the following methods: If you have a mortgage of 2 million yuan and want to repay in advance but do not have sufficient funds, the intermediary will first repay the loan. The mortgage money is lent to you, and after you pay off the mortgage, the property is released.
After that, the intermediary will ask you to use the property as collateral to apply for a business loan from the bank, and then use the money to repay the debt owed to the intermediary after the loan is approved.
Finally, you have a business loan in your name and pay the interest on the business loan on schedule.
"Compared with housing loans, business loans are based on interest first and then principal, and interest is paid every month, so the pressure of repayment will be much less." Ms. Li said, "If there is no company under your name, we will be responsible for helping you. The business flow, location and other information can also be operated, the bank review can basically be passed, and there will be no risk in the follow-up, only a certain handling fee is required, and the handling fee is generally about 1% of the loan amount.”
Hidden fees should not be underestimated
Actual burden may increase
"Releasing interest rate cut", the temptation to claim that hundreds of thousands of yuan in interest can be reduced, is there a hidden trap?
After communicating with a number of intermediaries, the reporter learned that there are not only many hidden charges, but also a series of unknown risks in the future.
"Based on the loan amount of 2 million yuan and the operating loan period of 5 years, the intermediary fee should be at least 20,000 yuan, and the bridge advance fee and the maintenance fee of the shell company will cost about 80,000 yuan. A rough estimate of the operating loan cost is about 10,000 yuan. More than 100,000 yuan." Niu Qi (pseudonym), a real estate agent from Suzhou City, Anhui Province, introduced.
For example, he said that if the mortgage interest rate is 5.7% and the equal principal and interest is calculated for 25 years, the monthly mortgage payment of 2 million yuan is 12,500 yuan, and the total interest is 1.7565 million yuan; For 6167 yuan.
It seems that the monthly monthly payment can save 6,333 yuan, but it ignores the pressure brought by the principal. The business loan comes with interest first and then the principal. The previous repayment is the interest. After 5 years, the principal needs to be repaid in one go, 2 million yuan. What if you can't get that much money all at once?
"Compared to the 20 to 30-year repayment cycle of a home loan, the loan term of an operating loan is usually only 3 to 5 years. After the replacement, the repayment pressure of the lender increases sharply. If there is not enough cash flow to support, the home buyer will You will face the risk of default. Although you can go through a new round of refinancing, you have to face being 'cut leeks'. What's more, once the policy changes or the loan is tightened in the future, it is unknown whether you can get the loan again." Niu Qi Say.
"In the process of replacing home loans with business loans, some intermediaries only tell home buyers the benefits, but choose not to mention the risks, and even propose to increase service fees during the operation process. Home buyers really need to think twice." Niu Qi told reporters that if If conditions permit, it is safer and more economical to repay the mortgage in advance through the bank than to replace the mortgage with a business loan.
It is worth noting that the reporter's investigation found that it is not easy to repay the mortgage in advance.
Wang Jie (pseudonym) from Fengtai District, Beijing purchased a property in August last year with a loan of 2.6 million yuan.
Recently, she wanted to repay the loan in advance, but found that it was difficult to apply for the online loan repayment business through the bank app. The bank staff explained that "there was a bug in the system upgrade", and she needed to make an appointment with the bank for offline early repayment.
Homebuyers from Anhui, Jiangsu, Chongqing, Shandong and other places also encountered similar problems.
The reporter also noticed that even if you can successfully apply for early loan repayment, the process is very complicated. If the bank does not support the app or website, the offline process is more cumbersome and sometimes takes several months.
Short-term loan and long-term investment violate the agreement
or there is a liquidity hazard
For homebuyers, the replacement of home loans with business loans, although on the surface, can reduce capital costs, but may have an irreversible impact on their own credit.
"Under the operation of many intermediaries, the loan period of business loans can also be extended to be similar to that of housing loans, but there is a renewal of loan behavior in the middle, such as submitting application materials to the bank every 3 to 5 years and accepting a review. The risk is precisely It is hidden in it, and the materials that the intermediary helps to handle are all forged and cannot withstand repeated inspections." Niu Qi said.
Yang Qinfa, director of the Institute of Real Estate Policy and Law at East China University of Political Science and Law, believes that replacing business loans with housing loans to obtain interest margins violates the stipulations of the loan contract.
The terms of the loan contract of the bank will stipulate the purpose of the loan. The borrower misappropriates the loan for business use for the purchase of a house without the consent of the loan bank. According to the relevant provisions of the Civil Code, the loan bank has the right to withdraw the loan in advance or terminate the contract.
"The loan bank withdraws the loan in advance, and the repayment pressure of the house buyer will increase significantly. Due to the short term of the business loan and the long term of the home loan, the conversion of the business loan to the home loan will result in short-term loans and long-term investment, which will pose a liquidity risk to homebuyers. "Yang Qinfa said.
Hu Yunyun, a lawyer from Beijing Yinghe Law Firm, told reporters that the state clearly prohibits enterprises from entering the property market with business loan funds, and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission has repeatedly issued notices "prohibiting business loans from entering the property market in violation of regulations."
Once business loans are investigated and dealt with after entering the property market, the bank may withdraw the loan, affecting personal credit, and even risk being identified as loan fraud or contract fraud.
According to the Criminal Law, whoever obtains a bank loan by fraudulent means and causes heavy losses to the bank or has other serious circumstances shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, and concurrently or solely with a fine; causing particularly heavy losses to the bank or having other particularly serious circumstances , shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years and shall also be fined.
In order to maintain the healthy development of the real estate market and prevent the illegal flow of business loans into the real estate market, the relevant departments have been taking action.
On July 28, 2021, the General Office of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission jointly issued the "Notice on Preventing the Illegal Inflow of Loans for Business Purposes into the Real Estate Sector", requiring banking institutions to strengthen the verification of borrowers' qualifications, strengthen the "three checks" of business-purpose loans, and implement various measures. According to the credit approval requirements, no loans for business purposes shall be granted to shell enterprises without actual operation.
At the same time, starting from the second half of last year, the financial supervision department has adjusted the financial supervision policies of the property market in an orderly manner, and the national mortgage interest rate has entered a period of reduction.
Especially since the beginning of this year, the central bank has repeatedly lowered the interest rate quoted in the loan market and lowered the lower limit of the mortgage interest rate, which has promoted a substantial reduction in mortgage interest rates across the country.
"Regulators should strengthen the sharing of loan information, keep abreast of the specific flow of business loans, and find that those illegally flowing into the real estate market should be investigated and punished immediately, including credit investigation measures such as pulling into the loan blacklist. Banks should pay attention to the flow of customers' funds, Suspicious capital flows should be reported to the regulatory authorities in a timely manner, and business loans should be withdrawn in advance for those that flow in violation of regulations. Intermediaries and home buyers should be law-abiding and discipline-abiding, and should not violate laws and regulations for petty profits. "Yang Qinfa said.
(Rule of Law Daily)