LIC Housing eviction notice to defaulters

Pay up or face eviction - LIC Housing Finance to its defaulting customers.

The housing finance company has initiated action against home loan defaulters having sent out 60-day notices to well over 100 defaulters under the Securitisation Act and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002.

Action has been initiated against customers who have failed to pay their monthly loan instalments for well over 12 months.

LIC Housing regional manager S N Bhattacharya told Business Standard that notices have been sent to customers across the country.

In Mumbai alone, 35 notices have been sent, in Nagpur 30 and in Pune another 10. LICHFL is confident that the Securitisation Act will facilitate the recovery efforts, which till now have been time consuming and ineffective.

"Many more notices are in the process of being sent to the defaulters. In the states of Maharahtra, Gujarat and Goa alone, the recovery amounts stand to the tune of Rs 15-20 crore," said Bhattacharya.

The Ministry of Finance had notified on November 10, 2003 that housing finance companies registered under the National Housing Bank (NHB) and having a Tier I capital of over Rs 10 crore can also initiate action under the Securitisation Act.

Accordingly, any housing finance company can issue notices to defaulting borrowers, take possession of the secured asset after a period of 60 days and then sell the secured asset to recover its dues.