The government wanted to address the problem of borrowers who, when reviewing a mortgage contract, understood very little of it. For people who applied for this type of financing at different banks, they may encounter different provisions in the documents, which further complicates the matter. This was supposed to be simplified by a single contract template that the ruling authorities were working on, specifically designated for this task by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection. Unexpectedly, this work was abandoned – the Business Insider portal reported.
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A single contract for all banks
The intended housing loan contract was supposed to be standardized for all banks. And that was not the only benefit that the regulation was supposed to bring. Another was to simplify it so that a borrower who is not a lawyer could understand far more from its provisions than currently. Unfortunately, the idea was abandoned. Why? It is unknown. Perhaps the authorities were worried about something? Possibly.
Among the reasons for abandoning the work on regulations were those concerning legal consequences for the legislator, or rather the State Treasury, which, if proven unconstitutional, would be liable for potential damages from the banking sector.
This is a bleak but likely scenario that would not necessarily come to fruition immediately after the adoption of new provisions introducing a standardized contract, but even a few years later, if the national courts or the European Court of Justice found it unconstitutional.
Negative opinions on the regulation, before the government withdrew from working on it, were to be expressed by: the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance, the Financial Ombudsman, and the Financial Supervisory Authority.
Another solution is on the table, but… it will not be mandatory
The regulation was supposed to introduce a standardized mortgage contract template in all banks providing this type of financing to Poles. Another solution prepared by experts of the European Financial Congress, which could also introduce a model contract for housing loans, is on the table. According to the experts who developed it, it is better prepared, more tailored to the needs of both borrowers and banks. Everything seems great, but… that’s where the “but” comes in. Even if the project, which received positive opinions from the Financial Supervisory Authority and the Financial Stability Board, were to come into force, which is still uncertain, the document would only be an option for banks, from which they could benefit, rather than an obligation as it would be with the government regulation. This could lead to the document, which theoretically could be better in formal terms for the banking sector, becoming a “dead” document, because banks would not have to use it.
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