FAS will consider complaints against banks due to restrictions on preferential mortgages

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has received several complaints about the introduction of restrictions by banks on preferential mortgages. The newspaper reported this “News” with reference to the FAS press service. It is not specified who sent the complaints to the FAS, citizens or companies.

At the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, several large banks (Sberbank, VTB, Alfa Bank) announced their intentions to issue mortgages under state programs only when purchasing housing from partners. As Izvestia notes, such rules will allow banks to cooperate only with those developers who subsidize mortgages together with credit institutions.

FAS promised to consider the appeals in due course. If the service finds violations, banks may be fined from 2.5 million to 5 million rubles for imposing unfavorable contract terms. If the FAS reveals signs of concluding anti-competitive agreements, banks may be fined in the amount of up to three hundredths of the proceeds from the program.

As Kommersant previously found out, the desire of banks to avoid losses when participating in preferential mortgage programs through the introduction of commissions for developers resulted in a conflict. Developers refuse to work with some banks or increase the cost of apartments for buyers. At the same time, mortgages account for 70% of housing sales in new buildings.

Read more about the conflict over preferential mortgages in the material “Interest has accrued on benefits”.

Anastasia Larina