Some 460,000 Romanians had mortgaged loans, some 15% of which (68,700) had overdue payments on their loans, according to new data released by Romania’s National Bank (BNR).

The total number of mortgage contracts was little over 490,000, as some people had more than one loan. These contracts included mortgage loans as well as other types of loans backed by real estate warranties.

Some 74,000 loan contracts had overdue payments, and for 21,000 contracts the overdue payments were older than 91 days, which qualified those loans as non-performing. The total value of the mortgage loans which recorded delays in payments was some EUR 16.6 billion and the value of overdue payments was close to EUR 900 million.

The Parliament has recently passed a bill that defines giving in payment, allowing the mortgage debtors to get rid of their debts to banks by giving the mortgaged assets to the banks. The law still needs the President’s approval before coming into effect.

editor@romania-insider.com