Pag-IBIG offers payment deferral, more loans for 'Ondoy' victims

Pag-IBIG Fund members whose homes were demolished by storm Ondoy were allowed to defer housing loan payments for three months, the agency said on Monday. Moreover, they were also allowed to borrow more money under a reconstruction and rehabilitation program, the agency said in a statement. These programs were initiated "to alleviate the debt burden of Pag-IBIG members in the aftermath of storm Ondoy," said Vice President Noli de Castro, who is concurrent chairman of Pag-ibig fund and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC). The loan and payment moratorium is applicable to affected members in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, and the Cordillera Administrative regions. The moratorium will begin on September 26 and will end on December 31. Similarly, De Castro has approved a moratorium on the loan payments of beneficiaries under the Community Mortgage Program (CMP) implemented by the Social Housing Finance Corporation and the relocation programs of the National Housing Authority. In the meantime, to avail of the three-month rehabilitation loan, borrowers must be updated with their membership contributions and housing loan payments. Applications for the loan moratorium may be filed with the Pag-ibig branches where the loan is maintained within 30 days from October 5, 2009. However, members whose housing units have been foreclosed, cancelled, or bought back are excluded from availing the new program. A borrower can borrow up to a maximum of P150,000 at an interest rate of eight percent a year. To qualify for the home rehabilitation program the applicant must have made at least 24 months of contribution at the time of their application; not more than 65 years old; insurable; has the legal capacity to acquire real property; and has passed the credit, employment and business checks of the Fund. Applicants can avail of the rehabilitation loan within 90 days starting October 5, 2009. The rehabilitation loan can be availed within 90 days starting October 5, 2009. Members whose houses are currently mortgaged with the Fund, meanwhile, may file for non-life insurance claim covering the difference of the estimated cost of repairs and the proceeds from the non-life insurance claim, provided it does not exceed P150,000. The property should be covered by the appropriate titles issued by the Register of Deeds, “free from all liens and encumbrances," and should be in the name of the borrower. Applicants are required to submit the following documents:

• duly notarized Affidavit of Claim, if applicable;
• barangay certificate attesting that borrower’s property has been damaged by storm Ondoy;
• estimated cost of damages duly signed by licensed engineer; and
• bill of materials and specifications for repair works or minor construction