UAE Central Bank Removes 3% Early Settlement Fee For Mortgages

UAE banks can only charge borrowers a 1% early settlement fee or AED 10,000

UAE Central Bank removes 3% early settlement fee for mortgages
The early settlement fee for mortgages has been reduced to just 1 percent on the outstanding mortgage amount or AED10,000 – whichever is less.

Banks will no longer be able to charge a 3 percent early settlement fee for borrowers who want to exit their mortgage early, under a new directive from the UAE Central Bank.

Instead, the fee has been reduced to just 1 percent on the outstanding mortgage amount or AED10,000 – whichever is less.

And those who have already paid the 3 percent settlement fee have been instructed they can get a refund from their banks within 30 days.

A circular sent out by the UAE Central Bank said: “Early settlement or partial settlement fee for applying to home loans has been reverted to maximum one per cent of the outstanding balance or AED10,000, whichever is less. Banks and finance companies that arbitrarily changed the stated terms of the fees in existing customer agreements are required to respect the original terms of the agreement and refund all overcharges for all customers based on their original fee within 30 days of this notice.”

Chris Schutrups, managing director, Mortgage Finder, welcomed the decision and said it was a great boost for borrowers, particularly in the current economic climate.

He believed the news will encourage borrowers to switch their mortgage to lenders offering better interest rates and will result in an increase in buyout and remortgaging activity.

“The news from the Central Bank is positive as it now opens up opportunities for those borrowers who were paying a higher rate of interest on their mortgage to find a better deal and save money.

“The recent interest rate cuts that we have seen are pushing banks to be more competitive with their products. We have seen a decrease in mortgage rates since the beginning of the year. All of this is great news for those borrowers who were stuck with mortgage products that did not reflect the changing market.”

In 2018, the UAE Central Bank had announced that lenders could charge up to 3 percent of the outstanding home loan amount on clients who exit their mortgage early. The banks had to prove financial loss in order to charge the full 3 percent.

For all the latest banking and finance news from the UAE and Gulf countries, follow us on Twitter and Linkedin, like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube page, which is updated daily.
RECENT NEWS

Emicool Secures First-ever Green Financing To Boost Sustainable Growth

The liquidity generated will be strategically deployed to accelerate the company’s district cooling projects across t... Read more

UAEs Ruya Becomes First Global Islamic Bank To Offer Shariah-compliant Crypto Trading

Digital Islamic bank ruya teams up with Fuze to offer secure, ethical crypto investments aligned with Islamic financial... Read more

Startups In Abu Dhabis Hub71 Secured $2.17bn In Funding Last Year

Hub71 startups in Abu Dhabi saw massive increase in funding in 2024 as innovation economy thrives Read more

UAE Fintech Pay10 First To Launch On Central Banks Open Finance Framework

The company has acknowledged the Central Bank of the UAE's crucial role in facilitating a responsible and secure rollou... Read more

PayPal Expands In MEA Region With Its Newly Launched Hub In Dubai

Will serve 80 countries in Middle East and Africa from its Dubai Internet City hub; Has signed several deals with regio... Read more

New Board Certifies DMCC Tradeflow As Fully Shariah Compliant

Shariah Supervisory Board appointed to oversee Tradeflow’s Islamic finance offering; Certified fully-compliant with A... Read more