Kingsley U N Chikwendu —
The National Pension Commission says it plans to release the list of approved mortgage lenders to enable workers access part of their Retirement Savings Accounts before the end of December, sources have revealed.
According to The Punch, a source in PenCom said the pension regulator wrote to the country’s apex bank to give it the list of licensed mortgage lenders in the country but the CBN was yet to respond.
“We have written to the CBN; we are yet to receive the list from the CBN because it has not responded. On our own part, we are looking at how to fast track it, the source said.
“Already, there are people that are trying to apply, and the applications are pending”, it added.
In a recent released guidelines to allow contributors of the Contributory Pension Scheme to access part of their RSAs for payment of equity contribution for residential mortgage, PenCom disclosed that this was in line with Section 89 (2) of the Pension Reform Act 2014, which allows RSA holders to use a portion of their RSA balance towards payment of equity for residential mortgage.
According to the Commission, the guidelines cover pension contributors in active employment, either as a salaried employee or as a self-employed person.
While adding that the maximum amount to be withdrawn is 25 per cent of the total mandatory RSA balance as of the date of application, irrespective of the value of equity contribution required by the mortgage lender, PenCom said the applicant must have an offer letter for the property duly signed by the property owner and verified by the mortgage lender.
On criteria for mortgage lenders, the guidelines stated that, “to qualify as a mortgage lender for this purpose, the company must be licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, comply with the Contributory Pension Scheme and have valid Pension Clearance Certificate. The commission shall publish names of the eligible mortgage lenders on its website”.
