There are almost seven thousand housing loans and residential mortgages with the Housing and Planning Department with a book value of approximately BZ$52 million, but, right now, approximately 90% of them are non-performing.
What's more, many of the loans and mortgages take on over the past twenty years were unsecured, meaning they had no collateral. A release form the ministry of Housing states that many of them weren't even signed!
Now the Ministry of Housing has appointed a team to undertake a review of all mortgages and home improvement loans to see which can be paid and which must be written off.
Housing Minister Michael Finnegan told us that the portfolio was in chaos but that the exercise will not penalize the poor.
Michael Finnegan, Minister of Housing
"We will find out or try to ascertain those who can afford to pay. We will make them pay. And that that we believe cannot pay, then it is our intention to write off these mortgages."
Jules Vasquez
"Were you alarmed to find out that 90% of the mortgages in government's portfolio are none performing?"
Michael Finnegan, Minister of Housing
"I was totally alarmed because the whole thing wasn't professionally done. People just come in and get taxpayers' money, move out with taxpayers' money, nothing signed, no collateral, nothing of this sort. You'd be amazed to know if I would mention some of the names who have just gotten away and creamed off tax payers' money just because they are connected with the party that was in government for the last 10 years. But there are genuine poor innocent Belizeans that cannot pay and my ministry and my government is bent on giving them a run. These are poor unfortunate people who will not be able to pay a cent no matter what happens in their lives. The government's intention is to live up to its manifesto promise of taking off housing burden off the backs of the poor and to relieve these people of a burden that is on their shoulder."
Jules Vasquez
"With all these irregularities, all these imperfections, all these anomalies that existed with these mortgages you said some of them were unsecured, people did not sign. Are there indications that these were included in the bundle of mortgages that were securitized abroad?"
Michael Finnegan, Minister of Housing
"I am glad you raised that question. We have some cases of some people right around here who will be alarmed. What PUP actually did Jules was mortgage out these people homes to the Royal Bank in Trinidad without they even know about it. Poor people like the Kerrs, the Diegos and others...."
Jules Vasquez
"Are you saying those mortgages were sold to RBT?"
Michael Finnegan, Minister of Housing
"Yes and to other institutions without them knowing. Without their permission."
Jules Vasquez
"And are their mortgages performing? Were they performing at the time?"
Michael Finnegan, Minister of Housing
"They were not performing, but the government control Social Security Board and just dump bad mortgages on the Social Security Board. The social Security had no choice but to take the mortgages."
The review exercise will be finished next year and the report will be presented to the House Of Representatives.
