NHA suspends amortization, lease payments

MANILA, Philippines — The National Housing Authority has approved a two-month suspension of amortization or lease payments for residential account holders in all existing NHA projects as well as for commercial, industrial and institutional (CII) accounts.

“This is our gift to our housing beneficiaries to aid them in this coming Christmas season,” NHA general manager Marcelino Escalada said yesterday.

This developed after the NHA issued a Memorandum Circular on Oct. 9, pursuant to Republic Act 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act.

Escalada said the moratorium will cover payments from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31 while the resumption of payments is on Jan. 1, 2021.

Among those qualified for the scheme are individual accounts or community associations; estate and non-estate-based CII accounts in the regions with updated accounts as of Oct. 31 and active accounts with arrears of up to three months as of Oct. 31.

There is no need for housing beneficiaries to apply for this measure as this will automatically be processed for all existing residential and CII account holders. Suspended amortization due will not incur delinquency or additional interest charges.

The NHA first suspended the collection of amortization payments from housing beneficiaries for three months – from March 16 to June 15 – after the pandemic hit the country early this year.