This month the payment of loan installments that were frozen between April and December 2020 is reactivated. There are three keys to understanding this process.
The economist José Gabriel Espinoza referred to the end of the deferral of bank loans.
He began by indicating that the due date for the payment of each installment remains the same as before the deferral was ruled. “Each loan has a specific term, so each borrower must approach the corresponding date.” That is the first key, go to the corresponding bank.
The expert said that even those people who had automatic debit or discount of their fees from their bank accounts have to go because “many of these forms of payment were suspended in the early stages of deferral.” He indicated that they may have to fill out a form or meet some other requirement to reactivate this form of payment.
He clarified that the conditions determined when contracting the debt are respected. For this reason, during this new stage, “there are no modifications, the only thing that is done is to automatically extend the credit period for six months, which is how long the previous deferral lasted.”
INSURANCE
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The second key after the deferral is to talk about insurance, that is the only pending issue with the bank.
He explained that when you get a loan you have to take out insurance, so you have to agree what will be done with it, because it did not stop running during the six months of the deferral. May need to be prorated.
A third key is that “you don’t have to sign a new contract, you don’t have to reschedule, you don’t have to refinance because the loan as such maintains the same conditions as it had before the deferral.”
Options
Espinoza said that now that the deferral is over, it is possible that some people do not have the same financial possibilities as when they contracted their debts, due to losing their job or another factor.
Faced with such cases, the expert said that, although the regulations establish that the initial credit conditions be respected, the banks are making the possibilities of renegotiating the credits more flexible.
An alternative is for the debtor to agree to rescheduling. This will mean “a new credit operation and, therefore, conditions would change.”
Other options are the refinancing processes, debt renegotiation or extension of terms.
He said that some debtors may qualify for a refinance because this way they will be able to reactivate their economy. But, others will not accommodate this possibility because, perhaps, they do not have a business perspective or do not meet other conditions.
However, Espinoza said that not all banks are obliged to give in to these alternatives, it is an agreement between parties and “each case is particular.”
He regretted that the regulations issued by the Government suppose that all the actors who had debts in April 2020 will be able to pay normally from January 2021.
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