CEBU-BASED Filipino Homes is appealing to property developers to grant payment extensions anew to buyers who are having difficulty paying their dues on time due to the threats of the Delta variant of the new coronavirus that led to stricter quarantine measures.
In a letter sent to 430 property developers across the country, Filipino Homes appealed for developers to be “considerate and understanding of the current situation” in this still challenging time as more areas in the country and overseas were placed under tighter restrictions in the face of the surging Delta variant cases.
“Many of our clients who were a few days delayed in their payments incurred late payment penalties. In this still economically uncertain time, it pays to be considerate and understanding of the current situation of some of our buyers. We can recall that our government has requested all lenders to grant extensions and grace periods without interest, penalties or additional charges to all loan payments falling due,” the letter stated.
“In this context, we also now request reconsideration and appeal from your good office not to apply these late payment charges yet as we are still experiencing the adverse effects of the ongoing pandemic,” it added.
In an interview, Filipino Homes founder Anthony Gerard Leuterio said buyers now have difficulty moving around due to this delta threat. This is on top of the economic challenges buyers have been facing since the pandemic’s outbreak last year that has affected jobs and businesses.
“We appeal to them not to be hard on using the contract because we are in a different situation now,” said Leuterio, adding that these buyers, including overseas Filipino workers, want to keep their properties which they have been paying for using their hard-earned money.
Buyers are slapped with four to six percent interest as penalty for late payments.
Property account rescue
Leuterio said he is appealing to developers to temporarily put on hold these penalties and conduct a case to case rescue.
In June this year, Filipino Homes urged developers to create an “account rescue team” to help buyers keep their properties while they buy more time to continue paying for their monthly amortizations.
This property recovery program, according to Leuterio, aims to avoid buy-back or refund from the developers’ side. More importantly, this will help buyers keep their hard-earned investments.
Leuterio said this is a win-win solution for both parties given the economic difficulties faced by both developer and buyer.
While sales have gone up even at the height of the pandemic, the global health crisis has affected some accounts in which payments of amortization were discontinued. Leuterio said such a scenario is just temporary and the real estate market will soon fully rebound. (KOC)