A bill has been introduced by the Icelandic government aimed at helping the country’s householders and reducing the stockpile of repossessed housing currently in possession of the Housing Finance Fund.
A new buying/rental system will be established at Iceland’s Housing Finance Fund as a means of getting rid of repossessed properties in its possession.
People’s renting and purchasing rights will be insured and better laws will be imposed on housing co-operatives. The bill also calls for interest and home rental top-ups to be replaced by general ‘housing relief’ which would also apply to homeowners’ mortgage payments.
The bill would see householders spared the ignominy of being declared bankrupt for longer and make the law work harder to keep them in their homes, Visir.is reports.
The government’s ideas to help struggling households were delivered in a press conference yesterday where it was announced that more people would become eligible for help and that payment assistance and subsidies will all be brought together into a single system.
Alongside the new bill the government also announced it intends to set up a new debt agency to offer politically-impartial advice to householders and the agency head will become the spokesman for debtors in creditor negotiations and will not need to be neutral.
Further details of the government plan include:
Special remedies for low-paid workers and those suffering temporary pay cuts
A new strategy for people with two homes
A new lower maximum for penal interest
The sale price of houses sold at compulsory auction will be discounted from the debt
People will have the right to stay in their homes for 12 months after bankruptcy or compulsory auction is announced
Lower maximum interest charges
Re-examination of tax debt write-off laws
Reduced relevance for inflation indexed mortgages
Vilhjalm A. has commented on this on EDA:
http://www.economicdisasterarea.com/index.php/features/bankers-bonuses-and-perspectives/comment-page-1/#comment-3376
As it’s an area that Dadi has focussed on before, I expect there will be a blog post on it soon over there.
Sad truth is that almost every thing they do is wrong with unintended consequence.
What are they doing to change that if you give back the keys of the house, the mortgage taken back too ?
Now that would be a good old socialist policy.
Instead we have a bizere 12 month time left squatting after you don’t pay any more.
If the banks had been reconstructed faster and the IceSave deal put in to court as it should have been by April 2009 and some co-operation from Pension Funds short term forced.
Then things would be very different by now.
Instead we have this ridiculous policies and pet projects of social democrats passed like ban on lapdancing and forcing a quota of woman onto the board of public companies ( that nonsnese insulting to women they have in Norway ).
This Red – Green govenrment is more than useless — it is actively working at its slow pace to block recovery of country.
im not sure it helps what they thought is the solution,i guess it only make the owners frustrated specially to those who was selling and dont get payed all the price of the house…and the buyers try to make it into banckruptcy,they have to think about it before they make a descision coz this is not fair to every owners……they should used there mind before they react and make a law into it….look at the sitaution i each time to provide a good service to human race…may god bless every descision of the government…
More bla bla bla… nothing changing. This dog does not get tired of running after the tail.
ICELANDIC GOVERNMENT SAYS MANY THINGS
ICELANDIC POLITICIANS TALK TOO MUCH AND DO TOO LITTLE
BUT IT SEEMS THAT ICELANDERS LIKE IT!!
IT IS JUST ALL BECAUSE OF THE LUTHERAN VALUES, THAT ARE STILL SOMEHOW ALIVE IN ICELANDERS MENTALITY..
LIFE IS HARD AND YOU HAVE TO SUFFER… AMEN…
Hope you would be more concern on the long term effect rather than the immediate and half hazard solution. Fair enough ?