The main points of the Joint Ministerial Decision are as follows:
Citizens who meet the conditions for participation in the program, i.e. they are aged 25-39 on the date of submitting the loan application, with an annual income of 10,000 euros up to the limit provided for granting the heating allowance and do not own a property suitable for the their residence, they submit an application, in order to have their eligibility assessed in principle at one of the banks that will participate in the program.
The process
The application must be accompanied by a series of supporting documents for each of the eligibility criteria. Banks check the fulfillment of the requirements (age limit, income, lack of property suitable for residence) for each applicant.
If these are met, then they evaluate the creditworthiness of the interested party based on their internal regulations and decide on the pre-approval or not of the loan and the credit criteria within 60 days of submitting the application. The pre-approval is valid for 60 days from its notification to the applicant.
The bank informs the applicant of the pre-approval and he, within the 60-day period, must notify the bank of the requested loan amount, which cannot exceed 150,000 euros, the property he intends to buy and its price, which does not may exceed 200,000 euros, according to the purchase contract and provide the documents required for the bank to do the necessary check.
If the deadline is missed, the financial pre-approval ceases to be valid.
If all the necessary supporting documents are submitted on time, then, following the bank's communication with the ETA, the ETA freezes the amount of the requested loan, until the final approval or partial approval or rejection of the loan by the bank is completed and includes the specific application to the program.
The bank then conducts a legal and technical audit of the property and notifies the results to the EATA. If the audit shows that the conditions for obtaining a loan are met with respect to the property, it submits the relevant loan agreement to the ETA. The EFTA checks the data submitted and approves the contract, unless a) the prospective borrower has applied for a loan or has drawn up a contract with another bank within the framework of the program or b) the amount stated in the contract exceeds the amount committed or 90% of the purchase contract or c) the entered data is incorrect.
The signing of a contract with the final recipient, the registration of a mortgage or pre-mortgage note on the property, which will secure the loan, and the disbursement of the total amount of the contract takes place within six months of the approval of the EBA. The above deadline is extended by two months, if the application for registration of a mortgage or promissory note has been submitted within the semester. If these deadlines are not met due to the fault of the applicant, the application is rejected.
The supporting documents
Regarding the necessary supporting documents, it is provided that:
1. The applicant's age is proven by a birth certificate or a copy of a national identity card.
2. Marital status (in the case of e.g. a single-parent family or a family with many children) is proved by a certificate of marital status, issued no earlier than one month before the submission of the loan application. In particular, in terms of proof of single-parent status, the applicant must provide additional supporting documents on a case-by-case basis (widowhood, divorce, dissolution of cohabitation agreement, incapacity of the other parent to exercise parental care, adoption by a single parent, etc.).
3. The data of the personal income tax return of the last tax year are used to determine the applicants' incomes. In the case of spouses or cohabiting partners, their family income is taken into account, regardless of whether they submit separate declarations or whether one of them applies for a loan. As supporting documents for this element, either the personal income tax return (E1) of the last tax year, or the settlement note/deed of administrative assessment of natural persons tax of the last tax year can be submitted. Accordingly, in the case of spouses or cohabiting partners, the above documents are submitted by both, regardless of whether they submit separate statements or whether one of the two submits an application for a loan.
4. In order to establish the existence or non-existence of a property suitable for their residence, the applicants submit the statement of property details (E9) of the last year and a certificate of uniform property ownership tax (ENFIA.) of the last year. In the case of spouses or cohabiting partners, the corresponding documents of the spouses or cohabiting partners are also submitted, regardless of whether the loan application submitted jointly or by one of the two.
In the event that the above supporting documents indicate the existence of a property, in order to judge whether it is suitable for meeting the housing needs of the applicants, the following criteria are taken into account, which must be met cumulatively:
A) The property must have an area equal to or greater than 50 sq.m., which is increased by 10 sq.m. for each family member cohabiting with the applicant.
B) The applicant has full ownership or usufruct of the property by a percentage of more than 50%.
C) The property is located in the same regional unit as the applicant's place of work or profession.
D) The property is used as a residence.
The submission of the supporting documents is accompanied by a responsible declaration, with which the applicant certifies that the information provided is true and complete, the supporting documents are genuine and that he has been informed of the terms of the program, which he fully accepts. Banks have the right to request additional supporting documents or to further investigate the creditworthiness of the applicant.
After the approval of the loan and before its disbursement, the bank is obliged to inform the ETA and the DYPA of the control it carried out in relation to the eligibility of the beneficiary and the property to be acquired.
