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Handling Tricky Clauses in a Home Loan Agreement

Handling Tricky Clauses in a Home Loan Agreement

The home loan agreement is usually a 50 page document that most borrowers don't have the patience to study in detail. However, all such agreements have a few tricky clauses that protect the lending institution, and may compromise the interest of the borrower. Thus one needs to be aware of these clauses and the means to deal with them. Some of such tricky clauses are listed below, with a few suggestions about how to deal with them.

Assignment to third parties

Most of the home finance companies (HFC) mention in their home loan agreement that they can without the permission of the borrower assign their rights to any third party for the purpose of collection and recovery of outstanding dues. This typical statement in the clause will reads somewhat like, "The bank may assign any of its rights or obligations herein without any approval or consent of the borrower."

However, this is an unfair clause and the borrower must discuss it with the banker at the time of signing and should get the required amendment made.

Notification Clause

In the majority of the agreement formats, there is a clause that the borrower shall notify the lending institution of any changes in his personal status such as employment or marriage well in advance. The clause "well in advance" is quite ambiguous and can be used by the bank to its advantage while declaring a default.

Thus, the borrower must insist on getting this amended to a more tangible figure that is acceptable to both the parties at the time of signing the agreement.

Cross Default

This is another gray area where the borrower is deemed to have defaulted in the home loan repayment, in case he defaults in servicing any other loan elsewhere. Since, the two payments are independent they should not be cross considered for the purpose of default definition. The clause can be eliminated by bargaining hard with the HFC at the time of taking the loan.

Amendment Clause

The HFCs often include this clause to retain rights of amending the terms and conditions of the agreement unilaterally, without the permission of the borrower, who is the second party to the agreement.

A typical amendment clause line to watch out for is -- "The bank shall at its sole discretion alter the terms of this agreement by written intimation sent to the borrower by courier. Any amendment proposed by the borrower shall be valid only if made by a written agreement signed by both the parties."

This clause is completely unacceptable by any legal standards, and hence must be out rightly rejected while signing the agreement. The implications of the amendment clause are completely against the interest of the borrower, who is an equal party in the home loan agreement.

Great care should be taken at the time of signing the agreement to scrutinize the document for such ambiguous and tricky clauses that may compromise the interest of the borrower later. In case the borrower finds any of these clauses unacceptable he may reject the agreement or renegotiate for an appropriate one with the HFC.

BankBazaar.com is an online loan marketplace.

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