“In 2007, I bought an apartment worth 60,000 euros, the loan was in Swiss francs. The rate I pay is 547 Swiss francs, about 2700 lei. I asked the bank to lower my rate, but I did not receive an official answer. Bank employees told me that, given the family’s income, there is no need for financial assistance,” says BM from Vilch. The man turned to the Center for Alternative Resolution of Banking Disputes (CSALB), where after a few days he managed to reduce the balance by 15%.

• Two-thirds (66%) of consumers do not know which institution should ensure the protection of their rights, or do not consider themselves protected;

• More than half (56%) of consumers claim that banks and financial institutions themselves should protect their rights through transparent commercial offers, clarity of clauses in the contract and through the explanations provided;

• Banks are considered the main source of information for 60% of consumers who have experienced or expect to experience financial problems.

In 2023, CSALB saw the most consumers in the last 7 years, and banks accepted 15% more negotiation requests than in 2022. The value of benefits received by consumers after negotiations with banks exceeded 3.3 million euros last year.

In 2023, CSALB received nearly 3,000 requests from consumers asking banks (1,885 requests) and IFNs (1,047 requests) to open negotiations under the Center.

Another 555 settlements between consumers and banks/MFIs were settled amicably through direct settlement after consumers sent claims to CSALB. Most of these were simple issues that could be resolved even without the involvement of a conciliator from the Center, or that did not involve negotiable terms (for example, requests to remove records from the Credit Bureau).

The average time of negotiations with the bank last year was 24 days. Although by law (OG 38/2015) the maximum time for seeking a solution through conciliation is 90 days and may exceed this period in the case of more complex negotiations, the speed of alternative resolution in court has steadily increased in recent years. .

The fastest deals were concluded in 2023 in one day (14 cases) or two days (37 cases).

There were also 31 more complex negotiations that ended after more than 100 days. The mediators who completed the negotiations the fastest: Roxana Mustetia (12 days on average), Nela Petrishor (14 days on average), Septimiu Stoika and Jonuc Štefan (15 days on average).

The peace mediators who mediated most of the negotiations in 2023 are Alexandrou Ambrosius (60 reconciliation files), Mihaela Budishtianu (59 files) and Valentyn Kocean (59 files).

More than €11.3 million is the total amount of benefits received by consumers after the negotiations carried out in the years 2016-2023 under the CSALB. The largest amount as a result of the negotiations was registered last year (€3.3 million), which is more than 60% more than in 2022.

On average, a consumer received 5,000 euros from negotiations held last year. In fact, benefits of up to €5,000 account for half of the deals brokered by CSALB. These amounts reflect a reduction in the value of the loan by: reducing or canceling some fees, reducing interest, lowering rates, and even erasing the entire debt (in difficult cases).

More than 500 lawsuits in Romanian courts have been settled amicably in the last three years under CSALB. Banks and judges have offered consumers an alternative solution through conciliation from the first term of the trial.

“Unfortunately, there are still banks that reject some of the requests they receive from their own customers through CSALB. Under these circumstances, our repeated recommendation, including for 2024, is for these credit institutions to avoid these types of court cases and to try to resolve the consumer’s problem directly. If the request cannot be resolved through direct negotiations between the parties, it is preferable that it be resolved through the involvement of CSALB mediators, avoiding a judicial process,” says Alexandru Peunescu, representative of the National Bank of Romania in CSALB coordination. board

How did consumers contact banks? What did they get?

Valentina Aylincay, Bacau: “I’m asking for help with an extended loan rate and I’m citing high-level medical reasons. We applied for help from the insurance company, but the amount they offered was a pittance compared to the financial difficulties we faced.

At the same time, in the same loan, the guarantor asks him to refuse the loan, since he is no longer a family member and will leave the country in the near future.”

Decision given by mediator Dragos Gheorghe and accepted by the parties: The Bank waives outstanding interest calculated/updated until the date of execution of the decision in the amount of 2,400 lei. Debt restructuring will take place by combining two credit agreements into one. The interest will be reduced and the new balance will be charged a fixed interest rate of 6%. The previous interest rates on the two loans were 8.9% and 26%, respectively. The credit term will be increased to 84 months. The current co-payer cannot be excluded from the loan, and no solution has been found for this request.

Valentyna Ailinchai: “Not everything is resolved, but I am satisfied. He extended my period, and instead of two installments on a credit and merchant card, almost 2000 lei, I now have one installment of 650 lei.

The loan was for personal needs, but with kids in college and medical issues that required monthly treatment, I couldn’t pay anymore. The problem wasn’t that I didn’t want to pay, but I got sick and the costs went up. I was always behind on my payments and borrowing to pay. Everything lasted about 2 months within the framework of CSALB. It went smoothly and without any effort on our part.”

How did consumers formulate requests to the TIN? What did they get?

Dragos Man, Bihor: “In 2007, I took out a mortgage loan for 63,000 Swiss francs. I am asking for your support in negotiating with IFN to find an amicable solution to ease the financial burden that is becoming more and more difficult for me to cope with. If on the date of conclusion of the contract the cost of the loan was equivalent to 38,000 euros, at the moment it is equivalent to 43,000 euros after 15 years of payment. The solution I was thinking of would be to reduce the balance by 35%. At the same time, I also ask for the return of the commission for granting the loan in the amount of 1,270 Swiss francs.”

The decision provided by mediator Vasyl Nemesh and accepted by the parties: The seller provides the consumer with a partial write-off (removal) of the debt in the percentage of 20% related to the credit agreement. The difference remaining after the partial removal will be reimbursed in accordance with the terms of the contract in monthly payments until the contract expires.

Dragos Man: I requested a 30-35% balance reduction and eventually got 20% after 6-7 email exchanges. About a month later, everything was ready, I reduced the claims, they increased the initially proposed amount, and we settled. The mediator did an excellent job, and I felt that I was no longer alone in the dialogue with the bank, but represented by the institution. The ratio seems to have evened out, and that made me happy. At first I decided to contact a lawyer, but he could not get anything from the bank, so I stopped working with him. I then approached CSALB directly, I knew about the Center from a group of clients with Swiss loans. After all, CSALB was a better ‘advocate’ than a lawyer.”

Other cases decided under CSALB

Consumer VP from Buzeu: “The contract with the bank is in progress, the delay of 3 installments. I have been out of work for 6 months now and my husband’s company is struggling to pay the bills. I apologize for the delays. I have been paying month after month for almost a year now, but I still have a debt. I am asking for a postponement and a reduction in rates. I note that in the near future I am promised employment in the field of sales-agribusiness with an above-average salary.”

The decision provided by the mediator Valentyn Kotsean and accepted by the parties: The credit granted to the consumer will be restructured in the sense of including outstanding amounts in the credit balance, extending the term of the contract and providing a grace period of 6 months, during which the consumer will pay a monthly installment of 50 lei. After the grace period, the rate will be 866 lei. The received loan will have a repayment term of 120 months and a fixed interest rate of 7%.

VE consumer from Ialomita: “Because of the general increase in prices, I have a bank loan that I cannot repay. I can barely manage the installments that I haven’t paid in full for a long time (…)”

The decision provided by the mediator Kosmin Vasyl and accepted by the parties: The seller and the consumer agree to the restructuring of the debt, keeping the initial costs in favor of the client and increasing the crediting period according to the selected option to 36 months. , with a monthly rate of approximately 555 lei. To take advantage of this solution, on the date of signing the new credit agreement, the consumer will pay the current debt from own sources (approximately 700 lei), as well as costs related to restructuring (approximately 150 lei). ).

BM consumer from Vylch: “In 2007, I bought an apartment worth 60,000 euros. The loan was concluded in Swiss francs. The rate I am currently paying is 547 Swiss francs, about 2700 lei. I remember that I applied for a rate reduction. I was not given an official answer from the bank, but the bank employees informed me that, given the family’s income, there is no need for financial assistance.”

Decision given by mediator Corneliu Moushat and accepted by the parties: IFN partially pays the debt and reduces the balance of the obligations related to the loan agreement by 15% of the current value of the obligations, the loan will continue on the repayment schedule adjusted according to the new value principal amount.

MR consumer from Bucharest: “I am in a difficult financial situation after applying to the IFN for several loans in 2022, not thinking that I would not be able to pay them off in the end. The problems continued this year, especially after I was fired. While on probation, my employment contract was terminated without notice. I am asking for a postponement of the installment payment without charging a penalty.”

Decision given by mediator Corneliu Mushat and accepted by the parties: Regarding the consumer’s requests regarding the personal loan agreement, the parties are invited to resolve the dispute by dividing the current debt of 4,090 lei into 10 monthly installments of 409 lei, without additional penalties calculated for this amount .