Fighting over-crediting of the population: the State Duma has banned the issuance of microloans on the security of housing

Deputies of the State Duma in the third and final reading adopted an amendment to a number of laws prohibiting private microfinance organizations from extending loans against housing. The innovators were initiated by State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin and Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko, as well as representatives of all factions.

“The draft law is aimed at the implementation of measures aimed at preventing illegal actions against citizens in the implementation of microfinance activities,” the explanatory note says.

The document prohibits microfinance organizations to enter into consumer loan agreements with individuals, if the fulfillment of loan obligations is secured by a mortgage. This measure is aimed at curbing fraudulent cases in relation to dwellings belonging to citizens.

In addition, the requirements for business reputation, management qualifications and owners of microcredit companies (ICC) are tightened - they are harmonized with existing similar requirements for microfinance organizations. In addition, in stages, from 2020 it will increase to 5 million rubles. the minimum amount of capital of the ICC is currently 10 thousand rubles.

Meanwhile, all types of microfinance organizations will receive additional opportunities to identify customers. In particular, they will be able to delegate the right to conduct authentication to credit institutions, as well as the ability to conduct client recognition through state information systems.

“The law adopted by the State Duma to exclude the borrower's housing from the pledge system is absolutely justified. People, getting into difficult life situations are sometimes ready to sacrifice everything momentarily, not understanding the whole proportionality of the sacrifices they make. When for a small debt microfinance organizations withdraw housing, which costs a lot, tens, hundreds of times more, it is absolutely unfair, ”said RT Kalashnikov, first deputy chairman of the Federation Council’s economic policy committee.

On Friday, July 26, the bill will be considered at a meeting of the Federation Council. Its entry into force is scheduled for October 1, 2019.

"The correct measure, prompted by life"

According to the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, Industry, Innovative Development and Entrepreneurship Vladimir Gutenyov, the bill is extremely important in the current environment.

“The debt load of the population is troubled loans, and I refer to them high-margin loans for microcredit organizations, when extremely indecent interest not only leads to the fall of certain social groups of citizens into debt bondage, but also forms the risks of depriving them of their only housing. Already, decisions that limit the appetites of such organizations to 365% per year have already entered into force, that is, 3.5 times the amount of return per year can exceed the initial loan amount. This, in my opinion, is the first step that needs to be done in this direction, because the experience of foreign countries, which somewhat faced the debt load of the population, suggests that interest should be significantly lower, ”the parliamentarian explained in an interview with RT.

Restrictions in terms of housing collateral in a loan in a microfinance organization is the right measure, it is prompted by life situations, said Artem Kiryanov, first deputy chairman of the Public Chamber of Public Control of Russia.

“Very high interest rates and low financial literacy of the population often led to the fact that people were forced to sell the latter and pay the amounts that were incompatible with the money they received. In general, given the fact that the debt burden of Russians is growing according to statistics, of course, it is necessary to adhere to certain rules, including the avoidance of super-high loan rates. As a rule, people take loans, and then they are strongly discouraged by the interest that they have to pay. The position of the legislators reflects the situation, which exists, and protects the rights of citizens, ”said the interlocutor of RT.

Note that this is not the first law in the field of housing and communal services adopted by the lower house of the Russian parliament lately. So, on July 16, State Duma deputies approved a law prohibiting the transfer of citizens' debts for housing and communal services to collectors. Recovery may be carried out exclusively by professional market participants - management companies, homeowners associations, housing cooperatives or resource-supplying organizations.