Can You Get Your Down Payment Back On A House?

A lot of Filipinos are buying real estate properties in the Philippines, like condos, townhouses or residential homes, as vacation houses or for investment purposes.

Most of these purchases are financed either by a bank or the seller, and the buyer pays on an installment basis for a period of 10 to 30 years, depending on the value of the property and the terms of the loan.

Sometimes, however, there are unavoidable situations where the buyer is unable to continue making the monthly payments on the loan. In such case, the seller or lender can cancel the sale contract or foreclose the mortgage on the property.

Luckily for the buyer, there is a Philippine law that protects him or her in case of default in making installment payments. Under the Realty Installment Buyer Act (Republic Act No. 6552) or the Maceda Law, a buyer of real estate property on an installment basis has the following rights:

1. Right to a grace period to pay the installments due. If the buyer has paid at least two years of installment, the buyer has a grace period of 30 days for every year of installment payments made; if only less than two years installment payments have been made, the buyer has 60 days from the date the installment became due.

2. Right to a 30-day notice of cancellation. If the buyer is unable to pay the installment due within the grace period, the sale contract will only be canceled after 30 days from receipt by the buyer of a written notice of cancellation or a notarized demand for rescission of the contract.

3. Right to refund of payments made. Under Section 3(b) of the law, if the contract is canceled or rescinded, the buyer is entitled to a fifty per cent refund of payments made, if buyer has already paid at least two years of installment. The refund percentage is increased to five percent for every year after five years of installment payments made, up to a maximum of ninety per cent. The down payment, deposit or option payment on the contract are included in the computation of the total installment payments made.

It is common practice among sellers to impose penalties, charges or other fees if the contract is canceled or rescinded and to deduct these from the refund amount, thereby leaving the buyer with a smaller refund.

This practice is of doubtful legality because the law expressly states that any stipulation in a contract that is contrary to the foregoing rights shall be void. Since the deductions would reduce the refund amount to less than fifty or more per cent (depending on the length of payments) of the installment payments made, this would contravene Section 3(b).

The realty installment buyer can also sell or assign his or her right under the contract before it is cancelled. And if he or she pays the whole balance in advance, no interest shall accrue on such unpaid balance.

Women, Business and The Law 2021

Countries are inching toward greater gender equality, but women around the world continue to face laws and regulations that restrict their economic opportunity, with the COVID-19 pandemic creating new challenges to their health, safety, and economic security, a new World Bank report says.

Reforms to remove obstacles to women’s economic inclusion have been slow in many regions and uneven within them, according to Women, Business and the Law 2021. On average, women have just three-quarters of the legal rights afforded to men. Women were already at a disadvantage before the pandemic, and government initiatives to buffer some of its effects, while innovative, have been limited in many countries, the report says.

“Women need to be fully included in economies in order to achieve better development outcomes,” said David Malpass, World Bank Group President. “Despite progress in many countries, there have been troubling reversals in a few, including restricting women’s travel without the permission of a male guardian. This pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities that disadvantage girls and women, including barriers to attend school and maintain jobs. Women are also facing a rise in domestic violence and health and safety challenges. Women should have the same access to finance and the same rights to inheritance as men and must be at the center of our efforts toward an inclusive and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Women, Business and the Law 2021 measures the laws and regulations across 8 areas that affect women’s economic opportunities in 190 countries, covering the period from September 2019-October 2020. From the basics of movement in the community to the challenges of working, parenting, and retiring, the data offers objective and measurable benchmarks for global progress toward gender equality. Following the outbreak of the pandemic, this report also looks at government responses to the COVID-19 crisis and how the pandemic has impacted women at work and at home, focusing on childcare, access to justice, and health and safety.

Overall, the report finds that many governments have put in place measures to address some of the impacts of the pandemic on working women. For example, less than a quarter of all economies surveyed in the report legally guaranteed employed parents any time off for childcare before the pandemic. Since then, in light of school closures, nearly an additional 40 economies around the world have introduced leave or benefit policies to help parents with childcare. Even so, these measures are likely insufficient to address the challenges many working mothers already face, or the childcare crisis.

The pandemic has also contributed to a rise in both the severity and frequency of gender-based violence. Preliminary research shows that since early 2020, governments introduced about 120 new measures including hotlines, psychological assistance, and shelters to protect women from violence. Some governments also took steps to provide access to justice in several ways, including declaring family cases urgent during lockdown and allowing remote court proceedings for family matters. However, governments still have room to enact measures and policies aimed at addressing the root causes of this violence.

“While it is encouraging that many countries have proactively taken steps to help women navigate the pandemic, it’s clear that more work is needed, especially in improving parental leave and equalizing pay,” said Mari Pangestu, Managing Director of Development Policy and Partnerships, The World Bank. “Countries need to create a legal environment that enhances women’s economic inclusion, so that they can make the best choices for themselves and their families.”

Despite the pandemic, 27 economies in all regions and income groups enacted reforms across all areas and increased good practices in legislation in 45 cases during the year covered, the report found. The greatest number of reforms introduced or amended laws affecting pay and parenthood.

However, parenthood is also the area that leaves the most room for improvement globally. This includes paid parental leave, whether benefits are administered by the government, and whether the dismissal of pregnant women is prohibited. Reforms are also needed to address the restrictions women face in the type of jobs, tasks, and hours they can work, segregating them into lower paid jobs. And in 100 economies, laws do not mandate that men and women be paid the same for equally valued jobs.

Achieving legal gender equality requires a concerted effort by governments, civil society, and international organizations, among others. But legal and regulatory reforms can serve as an important catalyst to improve the lives of women as well as their families and communities. Better performance in the areas measured by Women, Business and the Law is associated with narrowing the gender gap in development outcomes, higher female labor force participation, lower vulnerable employment, and greater representation of women in national parliaments.

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Source: Worldbank

Business Groups Push Financial Consumer Protection Bill

Some 16 local and foreign business groups have strongly urged for the immediate enactment of the proposed Financial Consumer Protection (FCP) Act, which seeks to protect consumers amidst the growing complexity in financial services, especially digital services.

In a statement the business group said that the intricate development of financial products and services resulting from advancements in technology has opened countless opportunities for financial markets and consumers alike. It also poses new risks, particularly to financial consumers.

“Reality has shown how financial products, including financial services accessed through digital channels, are susceptible to fraud or used for fraudulent purposes,” according to a statement.

Thus, the group said, it is of paramount importance to legislate reforms in the financial sector which will ensure that appropriate mechanisms are in place to protect the interest of financial consumers amidst the growing complexity of financial products and services.

The FCP bill proposes to establish a comprehensive financial consumer protection framework covering a complex range of financial products and services, and delivery channels. The measure intends to address the lack of consumer protection mechanism related to the provision of financial products and services especially digital financial services.

The proposed FCP act, among other things, will vest financial regulators with powers to determine the reasonableness of interests, fees or charges of financial products or services, issue cease and desist orders, and suspend operations of financial service providers in relation to a particular financial product or service.

It also seeks to allow financial regulators to expedite the adjudication of monetary claims arising from financial transactions, which will significantly help the financial consumers to seek redress and recover their losses from their financial transaction in an efficient and speedy manner.

The Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX) itself said that an immediate enactment of the FCP bill into law will not only address the economic hardship being encountered by the public during this challenging period but also to strengthen the Philippine financial ecosystem for the long term good of our country.

source: Manila Bulletin