Crowdfunding platforms will finally be regulated.

Help for borrowers in times of crisis.

Support and loan from the Borrower Support Fund…. 2

Conditions and exclusions.

Support.

Loan.

Basis for granting support or loan

Repayment of support or loan

The ability to suspend loan installments, or credit vacations.

Other MP ideas to help borrowers….

24 months of fixed loan installment.

Determination of a fixed interest rate for loans previously bearing a variable rate. 6

Digitization of construction law procedures.

e-Construction Portal.

Electronic construction log. 7

Electronic book of the building object.

“Subscription” to information on applications submitted to the KRS.

 

Crowdfunding platforms will finally be regulated

A bill is being processed in the Sejm, which will introduce regulations for the operation of the so-called “”new” legislation. crowdfunding platforms, i.e. institutions that allow obtaining funding from an unspecified number of people (crowdfunding).

Running a crowdfunding platform will require a special permit from the Financial Supervision Commission, and operating without a permit will risk a fine of up to PLN 5 million. The FSC will supervise such a company, and as a result, the platform will be required to report, comply with guidelines and provide explanations when requested by the Commission.

The regulation of platforms will have another important consequence in the form of changes to the regulations on commercial companies. Thus, directing an offer to purchase and acquire shares in a limited liability company to an unspecified addressee will be excluded, and acting against the ban will constitute a crime punishable by imprisonment of up to 6 months.

Help for borrowers in times of crisis

Due to high inflation and an increase in NBP interest rates, loan installments were also raised. It is estimated that in the case of commitments of 300,000. PLN, the installment can increase by as much as PLN 400 per month. In this regard, it is worth realizing that there are – and are to be introduced – solutions to help those who find themselves in a particularly difficult situation.

And so, we can distinguish between different types of support – from the Borrower Support Fund, which offers “support” or “loan” and which can be used today, and support that the legislature is yet to introduce. We encourage you to read on.

Support and loan from the Borrower Support Fund

Based on the Law of October 9, 2015 on Supporting Borrowers Who Have Taken a Home Loan and Are in Financial Distress (hereinafter: the Law), the Borrower Support Fund (BSCF) was established. The CDF is an aid to people who find themselves in a difficult financial situation and need to make home loan payments. Support is also available to those who have sold a house or apartment for which they previously took out a loan, but have not paid it back in full from the proceeds. The funds available to the Fund come from bank contributions and are tied to the number of mortgages with arrears of more than 90 days.

The law distinguishes between two types of support:

1. Repayable financial support for individuals obligated to repay a housing loan who are in financial distress
2. Loan to cover the remainder of the debt.

A housing loan under the law is a loan or credit, secured by a mortgage, intended to finance non-business or farm-related acquisition, construction, redevelopment of real estate for the purpose of meeting housing needs.

Conditions and exclusions

Support or loan may be granted if one of the following conditions is met:

1. At least one of the borrowers has unemployed status on the date of application
2. The ratio of the borrower’s expenses related to servicing the monthly principal and interest payment of the housing loan to the borrower’s monthly household income exceeds 50%
3. Monthly household income less monthly housing loan servicing costs does not exceed:
   1. In the case of a single-person household – PLN 1,552,
   2. In the case of a multi-person household – PLN 600 x the number of persons.

Support or loan cannot be granted if:

1. loss of employment by at least one of the borrowers occurred as a result of termination of the employment contract with notice by the borrower or termination of the employment contract without notice through the fault of the employee
2. one of the borrowers has already received support
3. The loan agreement was terminated before the application was submitted
4. The borrower owns (or has a cooperative right to) another dwelling or a single-family house, or was the owner in the 6 months before the application was submitted
5. the borrower has a claim for the transfer to him of ownership of a dwelling, single-family house, cooperative right to a dwelling or single-family house in a housing cooperative, or had such a claim in the 6 months prior to the application.

Support may not be granted for the period during which at least one of the borrowers is entitled to an unemployment benefit under a loan repayment insurance contract guaranteeing payment of an unemployment benefit.

Support

The support consists of the transfer of funds by BGK to the lender for repayment of the borrower’s housing loan obligations for a period of no more than 36 months (maximum PLN 2,000 per month).

Loan

The loan can be granted when the borrower has sold the borrowed property, and the amount from the sale did not cover the entire home loan obligation. The loan can amount to a maximum of PLN 72,000.

Basis for granting support or loan

The support or loan is granted on the basis of an agreement, concluded between BGK and the lender at the request of the borrower.

Repayment of support or loan

Repayment of the debt support or loan shall commence in the month following the month in which 2 years have elapsed since the disbursement of the last installment of the debt support or loan, and shall be made in 144 equal, interest-free monthly installments, payable by the 15th. day of the month into the Fund’s account. If the borrower repays 100 installments on time, the remainder of the installments are forgiven.

Support is withheld and subject to repayment if any of the exclusionary circumstances occur or the borrower ceases to meet the conditions for support.

A bill amending the aforementioned law is currently being processed in the Sejm. regulations. Among other things, the following will be introduced. The ability to apply for support through the electronic banking system.

If you are interested in verifying whether your contract with the bank meets the criteria for granting support or a loan, feel free to contact us.

Ability to suspend loan installments, or credit vacations

Work is underway in the Diet to allow borrowers to suspend loan installment payments under certain circumstances. The project is governmental, so there is a likelihood that it will be adopted.

If the law goes into effect, consumers will be able to apply to the lender to suspend the execution of a mortgage loan agreement, granted in Polish currency. Suspension may apply to contracts entered into before July 1, 2022, if the loan termination date is 6 months after that date.

The maximum period for which the performance of the contract may be suspended is:

1. From July 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022 – two months in each quarter
2. From January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023 – one month in each quarter.

The application can be for only one contract, concluded for the purpose of acquiring real estate for personal residential use. Interestingly, a properly submitted application on the day it is delivered to the lender suspends the execution of the contract. This means that it will be binding, i.e. it is not subject to recognition by the bank, and the contract is suspended, so to speak, automatically.

Within 21 days after delivery of the application, the lender shall acknowledge receipt of the application. Even if the lender does not confirm this circumstance, it does not affect the suspension of the contract.

While the suspension is in effect, the borrower is not required to make contractual payments (except for insurance payments).

The suspension period does not enter into the loan period, which means that the loan period and all terms are extended by the suspension period and this does not require the consent of the contracting parties and other third parties, including guarantors or persons who have established other collateral for the loan. During this time, no interest is accrued and no fees (other than those arising from insurance) are charged.

Other MP ideas to help borrowers

In addition to the forms of assistance already in place – support and loans, and the government’s proposal for a so-called “loan”. credit vacation, parliamentary bills are also currently being processed in the Sejm. We will briefly describe two of them, but it is worth bearing in mind that their adoption will not necessarily occur.

24 months of fixed loan installment

A group of Civic Coalition deputies has submitted to the Sejm a draft law on protecting borrowers repaying home loans from the effects of rising interest rates.

Protection will be afforded to borrowers who have no other property.

The protection will be a fixed monthly principal and interest installment on the home loan for a period of 24 months – the same as in December 2021.

After 24 months, the installment will be determined according to the terms of the contract.

Determination of a fixed interest rate for loans previously bearing a variable interest rate

A group of left-wing deputies has submitted a bill to the Diet on a temporary way to set the interest rate in variable-rate mortgage contracts.

The project covers consumers who entered into a mortgage loan agreement to purchase their first property for their own housing needs before December 31, 2021 in Polish currency.

Determination of the variable interest rate will be made at the request of the borrower.

For variable-rate mortgages, the rate will assume a fixed value equal to the mortgage rate set on December 1, 2019, for a period of 12, not to exceed 15 months after the law takes effect.

Digitization of construction law procedures

A government bill to amend the Construction Law, which aims to digitize certain procedures, is being processed in the Sejm.

e-Construction Portal

According to the project proponent’s idea, an e-Construction portal will be created. The portal will replace the current electronic form of contact with government offices, the electronic address specified in the BIP. Most of the activities that previously required written form or e-mail contact will be able to be performed in the portal.

Notification of construction or performance of other works will be possible, in addition to the written form, also through the e-Construction portal.

The portal will provide the ability to generate applications and submissions in the construction process.

Electronic construction log

The construction logbook will be able to be maintained electronically, in a system called the Electronic Construction Log (EDB system). The construction manager is responsible for its maintenance, while the investor applies to the relevant authority for its issuance. When planning future construction projects, it is worth bearing in mind that paper construction logs will only be issued until December 31, 2029.

Electronic building book

Building owners or managers are required to keep a building book on an ongoing basis for each building and structure, excluding, but not limited to, the following. single-family residential buildings. The book is established by the owner or manager of the facility. The book should contain entries on, among other things:

1. information about the facility
2. data of the owner or manager
3. inspections, expert opinions and technical opinions, reviews
4. construction works
5. construction disasters
6. Decisions, orders, certificates, etc. issued by public administration bodies.

The book will be maintained in the “Electronic Building Book” system (EKOB system), except for facilities located wholly or partly in closed areas (in which case the book is to be in paper form).

“Subscription” of information on applications submitted to the NCR.

We once wrote about the opening of the Court Registry Portal, which completely replaced the possibility of submitting paper forms for KRS entry (we encourage you to read here). Going forward, the legislature will introduce – starting June 21, 2022 – the possibility to “subscribe” to the PRS system for information on. of an entity listed in the National Court Register in terms of registered applications and amendments. The biggest advantage of these changes is the ability to automatically obtain information about any entity – not just one in which the person concerned holds some function.

Feel free to contact us if you are interested in the functionality of the new solutions.