The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The MP who tabled his own private members’ Bill in the House of Assembly yesterday said he would not support the Government’s version of the the Homeowners Protection Bill, saying: ‘We can do better than this.”    

Addressing Parliament during debate on the Bill, Greg Moss, the Marco Citty MP, said his 2015 legislation had sought to amend the Conveyance and Law of Property Act by giving discretion and jurisdiction to the Supreme Court.

He added that his Bill proposed to adopt the provisions of the United Kingdom Administration of Justice Act 1970.  “It would  have said that you could not exercise the power of sale in regards to homes without going to court, and would have brought justice and equity between the parties when we went to court,” said Mr Moss.

He argued that the Homeowners Protection Bill does not seek to amend the Conveyance and Law of Property Act, and described it as “distasteful” and “insubstantial”.

Telling Parliament he would call for a debate on his legislation once the Homeowners Protection Bill is dealt with, Mr Moss argued that the relationship between borrowers and lenders in the Bahamas is largely unregulated. 

“We see that today when we go in the bank. Banks can invent overnight new fees, fees that never existed before,” Mr Moss said.

“You go in the bank now and there is a banking fee for this and that, and whatever else they thought up because no one has laid down a law saying you cannot pass these fees without these fees being approved by someone of authority, someone who has been elected by the people. So the people are largely at the mercy of the banks.”

The Homeowners Protection Bill requires lenders to give delinquent borrowers 30 days’ notice before either invoking their ‘power of sale’ or seeking a court-approved foreclosure.

In both cases, borrowers can apply to the Supreme Court for relief. On the foreclosure process, the court can either adjourn, stay or suspend the matter if it believes the borrower will be able to pay principal and accrued interest within six months.

As for the ‘power of sale’, the latest version of the Bill allows the court to postpone this for “a reasonable period where a sum equal to at least one half of the principal, and accrued interest, has been paid at a specified time”.

The Homeowners Protection Bill is also designed to give borrowers more ‘freedom of choice’, through an ability to select their own attorney and appraiser from a list provided by - and approved by - the lender.

Borrowers will also be able to select their own insurance broker/provider. Bahamas-based mortgage lenders typically direct borrowers to use certain attorneys and insurance companies, so any efforts to improve ‘freedom of choice’ are likely to be welcomed by consumers.