Gov’t to bid out P14-B housing loans

Government will finally bid out some P14-billion worth of non-performing housing loans on Tuesday next week, despite an order from Malacañang imposing a six-month deferment on the foreclosure of delinquent housing loans.

Sources from the Department of Finance said four companies have expressed interest in bidding for the portfolio – Goldman Sachs, Lone Star, Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank.

According to sources, the bids will be opened on Feb. 24 as scheduled and the portfolio will be awarded to the winning bidder shortly thereafter.

The P14-billion portfolio belongs to the National Home Mortgage and Finance Corp. (NHMFC) and the sale will be the first ever under the new Special Purpose Vehicle Act (SPVA).

Bowing to lobbies from delinquent borrowers, President Arroyo issued last Feb. 9 Executive Order 281 ordering a deferment of the eviction, foreclosure and cancellation of housing accounts that have been marked inactive and delinquent.

Sources said the NHMFC transaction would be unaffected because the order gave a time-bound deferment period of only six months.

The EO directed all government housing agencies to come up with a restructuring plan for the restructuring of delinquent accounts but DOF sources said the sale to private asset management companies would be part of this comprehensive plan.

The sale of the portfolio would take out at least P14 billion from the banking industry’s non-performing loans (NPL) portfolio which had reached problematic proportions due to delinquent borrowers in various state-sponsored housing projects.

Officials, on the other hand, expressed apprehension that the issuance of the EO could be used to derail the sale of the delinquent housing loans.

A top official told reporters that Malacañang had "little appreciation" of the SPVA law.

"It’s not as if these people who have not been paying will be turned out homeless," the official said. "The only change that would happen is that they will now have to make their payments to a private company instead of the government."

The official explained that once an asset management company takes over the delinquent housing loans, the loans will be restructured and reactivated so that the original borrowers could pay within a reasonable amount of time.

EO 281 covers all delinquent housing loans for cancellation and foreclosure, foreclosed accounts and consolidated accounts with all government agencies under the National Shelter Program.

This covers the NHMFC, Home Development Mutual Fund, Government Service Insurance System and the Social Security System.

NHMFC’s NPL portfolio has been originally marked as the most easily disposable of all government-sponsored housing loans. Had it been allowed to proceed, the company that would take over could have easily reactivated the loans and allowed the delinquent borrowers to resume payments.