The ordeal of the economic crisis of 2008, when tens of thousands of people lost their homes after losing their jobs and therefore unable to pay their mortgages, and as a consequence of this, the banks took over a huge and unwanted building stock, has now allowed the Government to achieve an agreement with banks to help vulnerable families affected by the rise in interest rates on their mortgage loans. On this occasion, the department that directs Nadia Calvino and the bank bosses have made an effort to avoid situations as dramatic as those that were experienced thenbearing in mind that there is no justification for people with fewer resources to see their already fragile economies more penalized due to inflation and the rise in rates decreed by central banks to curb it.
Therefore, this pact and the decision of the Council of Ministers to translate it into the approval of an improvement and expansion of the Code of Good Practices for vulnerable families, those with an annual income of up to 25,200 euros, as well as a new voluntary code to support middle-class homes with mortgages and incomes of up to 29,400 euros. The fact that the Government and banks have been negotiating for months suggests that banks will sign these codes.
These are measures that will alleviate economically to more than a million families, that, fulfilling certain requirements, they will have the opportunity to extend the grace period and the terms of the payments of their credits, thus reducing the monthly payment, in addition to allowing them to renegotiate the conditions of the loan with the banks, without being penalized for it. With this intention, the Government has also approved a royal decree that facilitates the change from a mortgage with a variable interest rate to another with a fixed rate, eliminating the commissions for doing so, while In some cases, it has abolished commissions for early repayment. The new Customer Defense Authority, a figure provided for in a bill also approved this Tuesday, will monitor compliance with these regulations and provide security to users against banks.
These relief measures for those with mortgages do not have to be detrimental to banking entities, which will undoubtedly find a benefit in the renegotiation of the credits with which they will avoid defaults or generalized embargoes as it happened more than a decade ago. However, this has been one of the concerns of the banking employers in their negotiations with the Executive, obviously interested in preserve a strong and balanced mortgage market, and, of course, for keeping the banking business healthy.
It is precisely the search for this mutual benefit, which protects the most vulnerable and mortgaged middle-class families and avoids harming the banks, which allows these commitments to be considered balanced. It is worth asking if, as Vice President Yolanda Díaz and Minister Ione Belarra, of Unidas Podemos say, these agreements are insufficient and only mean “one small step” because it is evident that you can always aspire to protect a broader group. However, it can be concluded that these measures, Even though they can be improved, they represent an advance in the protection of the most vulnerable and in the prevention of unfortunate situations.