Mortgage Loan Support Measures

Loan contracts for the purchase or construction of permanent homes for own use, at a variable rate and with an amount owed equal to or less than 300,000 euros, are eligible for renegotiation under the following circumstances:

1.  Significant worsening of the effort rate:
   
   a) The effort rate reaches 36%

• An increase of 5 percentage points on the effort rate from 12 months ago; or
• An increase of 5 percentage points in relation to the effort rate at the time the loan contract was concluded, if the contract has been concluded for less than 12 months; or
• An increase equal to or greater than three percentage points of the reference indexing factor (Euribor) in relation to the date of conclusion of the contract (assuming that the housing loan contract was concluded with a repayment period of more than 10 years).

    b) The effort rate is higher than 36% in the previous 12 months and there is an increase in the effort rate or in the reference index of the contract or in the reference index pursuant to the previous items.

2.  A significant effort rate, i.e. when the borrowers' effort rate is at least 50%.

The Decree-Law generically provides for the following situations:

• The monitoring by institutions of signs of significant worsening in the effort rate or verification of a significant effort rate at least 60 days before the next interest rate reset.
• For mortgage loan contracts for the purchase or construction of permanent homes for own use with an outstanding principal equal to or less than 300,000 euros:
  
  i) when the monitoring referred to in the previous point results in any of the situations foreseen therein and the borrowers have the financial capacity to comply with the obligations arising from the loan contract, the institutions shall present proposals to the borrowers that are appropriate to mitigate the impact of the significant worsening of the effort rate or the verification of a significant effort rate, under the terms and conditions laid down in Article 11b of Decree-Law No. 227/2012, of 25 October.
  
  ii) the possibility of extending the loan term with the option of resuming the contracted term prior to the extension, provided that the recommended effort rate framework is verified. 
• For all the contracts covered, the exemption of the partial or total early repayment commission up to 12/31/2024, provided for variable-rate loans, regardless of the outstanding loan capital.

In order to benefit from these support measures, you must submit the following documents to BBVA:

• The borrowers' Income Tax Return (IRS) for the last available tax year;
• In the case of borrowers who are employees, a copy of the last three payslips;
• In the case of self-employed workers or with seasonal or irregular income, proof of income earned;
• Information on the set of borrowers' liabilities listed in the Central Bank of Portugal's credit responsibilities. This information can be obtained through the Bank of Portugal's website in the area Central de Responsabilidades de Crédito (Central Credit Register), simply by entering your fiscal number and password.