NHMFC to decentralize grant of urban poor housing loans

The National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. (NHMFC) will decentralize to its regional and zonal offices starting next month the grant of housing loans to community associations of informal settlers to further cut down the processing time of loans under its Community Mortgage Program (CMP).

Lawyer Angelico T. Salud, NHMFC president, said that as an initial step the accreditation of CMP loan originators, either a local government unit, a national government agency/corporation, or a non-government organization; as well as the enrollment of the community association’s proposed project will now be undertaken by NHMFC’s regional branches.

These functions to be devolved consist of the most critical steps in the CMP loan process, which comprise some 50 percent of the implementation phase of the urban poor home financing program, he said.

Under the plan, NHMFC’s regional/zonal offices in Regions I, V, VI, VII, X, and XI, including its satellite offices in Bacolod City and General Santos City, will be empowered to accept, process and approve the applications for accreditation from applicant CMP loan originators, who assist the community associations of informal settlers in community organizing and loan availments, among other things.

Likewise, they will be allowed to conduct at the regional level, the background investigation of the community associations to determine their legitimacy, capability to enter into a loan agreement, as well as their capacity to repay the CMP loan.

In addition, the regional/zonal offices will also be tasked to conduct project site inspection and property appraisal to determine, among other things, the acceptability of the collateral and the pricing for the land, subject of loan.

Prior to total devolution of the loan processes, the conduct of loan and mortgage examination will still be done at the central office including the grant of letter of guaranty to pay the cost of the property to the landowners and the eventual release of CMP loan proceeds, Salud explained.

Even at this stage, the regional offices will also assist in coordinating and monitoring the compliance by the community associations in their respective jurisdictions, with the other loan documentary requirements, to help facilitate the release of the loan proceeds, Salud added.