THE EDITOR, Sir:
I HAVE been trying to secure a Home Improvement Loan of $500,000 from the National Housing Trust, against a title which is free and the value of the house is $7 million. There is a breach of the Restrictive Covenant which is being rectified and the attorney has given the National Housing Trust his professional undertaking to complete the process.
I am qualified for a loan, but the red tape is excessive, tedious and unnecessary in some instances. My only conclusion from this experience is that they are using this methodology of frustration to restrict the number of borrowers.
I am a realtor and the feedback I have had from many of my clients who approach the National Housing Trust for a loan is that it is a daunting exercise. For many years I have attributed my clients' experience to ignorance or nervousness on their side, but I can now sympathise with them.
TEDIOUS PROCESS
Many vendors instruct me to sell a property, provided the prospective purchaser is not getting a loan from the NHT. In recent times they have improved, but the processing is still a tedious affair. I have known clients who qualify with National Housing Trust, but refuse to go through their extremely tedious process.
If it were not for their overall lower interest rate, they would have been extinct. The fact that they legally garner funds from taxpayers puts them in this high and mighty position.
Make the NHT more customer-friendly and streamline the procedures and this does not mean just having a Customer Service Department. After all, it is our money that they are lending to us.
I am, etc.,
NHT CONTRIBUTOR
Kingston 20
