THE Chamber of Thrift Banks expects the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to soon come out with the guidelines on the adoption of a uniform loan and mortgage system that will benefit both the borrowers and financial institutions.
“(We expect) the Bangko Sentral to come out with the implementing rules and regulations and memorandum advising banks on the adoption of ULAMA (uniform loan and mortgage agreement,” Gregorio Anonas, Wealth Bank president and concurrent Chamber of Thrift Banks president, said in a general membership meeting in Makati City over the weekend.
“Hopefully, the adoption of ULAMA will result in the elimination of human discretion and intervention, unclogging the system, and resulting in the faster registration of mortgages,” Anonas said.
The rise in housing credits earlier prompted the banking industry and the Land Registration Authority to create a system streamlining loans and mortgages documentation to protect both borrowers and financial institutions.
The ULAMA was developed in collaboration with the Bangko Sentral, and different banking groups such as the Bankers’ Association of the Philippines, Chamber of Thrift Banks and Rural Bankers Association of the Philippines.
Past CTB president Rommel Latinazo of RCBC Savings Bank earlier said the purpose of ULAMA was to streamline the documentation, taking into account the interests of all the parties concerned in real estate mortgage transactions. These include the financial institutions, the borrowers,and the government.
The Bangko Sentral in October 2014 eased the rules on bank lending, noting that the ability of the borrower to pay, and not collateral, should be the basis for loan approvals.
The central bank also plans to cap the value of real estate mortgage as collateral at 60 percent for securing loans.
Latinazo said real estate loan transactions, especially pertaining to housing, were on an upward trend and the ULAMA aimed to protect borrowers as well as the financial institutions.
