Re-negotiate your mortgage loan? Payments to banks have risen sharply

In Portugal, there has been an increase in mortgage complaints to local banks. In total, the Bank of Portugal (BdP) received 2,814 complaints about mortgage loans between January and July 2023, twice as many as in the same period in 2022. The main complaints relate to the application of mortgage lending support measures, such as new rules on contract review and the introduction of a suspension of early repayment fees.

"The number of complaints about mortgages and mortgage loans received between January and July 2023 more than doubled compared to the monthly average for 2022, with a total of 2,814 complaints received during this period," the Portuguese regulator explains in a report on the evolution of bank customers' complaints published last week.

The document also explains that "this increase is mainly due to the large number of complaints related to the implementation of measures to mitigate the effects of the increase in interest rates on mortgage borrowers, provided for by Decree-Law No. 80-A / 2022," in particular the new rules on the renegotiation of mortgage loans and the early repayment of the loan without paying taxes or fees to the bank.

The Banco de Portugal (BdP) report also states that the main complaints about mortgages and mortgages are:

• The introduction of measures to support mortgage lending
• The measures provided for by Decree-Law No.

The main complaints about the implementation of measures to support mortgage lending, according to the document:

• No response from the respondent to requests for review under the legislation;
• Failure to take measures provided for by the said legislation in cases where the payment under the loan agreement is increased due to lack of relevant prerequisites;
• The alleged failure to utilize the exemption from early repayment fees in permanent housing loan contracts with a rate subject to change;

Calculating mortgage payments and APR

Mortgage payment calculation and APR complaints accounted for 10.8% of the total number of complaints in this period. Specifically, borrowers complained about "determining the applicable spread, taking into account bonuses received from additional sales, and determining the payment amount in accordance with the calculation of the arithmetic mean of the index when it is periodically revised. "

Prepayment of a mortgage loan

Mortgage early repayment complaints accounted for 9.3% of the total number of complaints received by BdP. These relate to, among other things, "delays in processing early repayments and failure to provide information on the impact of loan repayments on the consumer".

Contractual terms

Contractual terms were also complained about by families who applied for a mortgage loan (they make up 8.3% of the total number of complaints). Here, complaints related to "delays in processing spread review requests and failure to apply the agreed-upon interest rate" were identified.