Ogun moves to curb mortgage business abuses

The proposed Ogun State Mortgage and Foreclosure Authority will reduce fraud and ensure sanity in the mortgage industry, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Olakunle Oluomo, has said.

The lawmaker spoke on Wednesday at a stakeholders’ forum on the bill establishing the agency held at the assembly’s complex, OkeMosan, Abeokuta.

According to him, the proposed legal framework would also help in making funds available for the expanding mortgage industry in the state.

Oluomo who noted that the bill would ensure that the legal requirements by financial institutions to make funds available for the mortgage industry were put in place, said, “This will encourage the various financial institutions to bring down the interest rate on mortgage loans because more of them will be allowed to participate in the business.”

The Managing Director of Gateway Mortgage Bank, Wale Osinsanya, submitted that the bill was coming at the right time that the housing industry was faced with challenges in Nigeria.

Osinsanya explained that the contribution of the housing industry to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was low, adding that the challenge of the industry had been the law governing the business.

He said, “The environment for housing business must be conducive and Ogun State with this bill has taken the right steps. With this bill, we will be dealing with the issue of transfer of title that could take years within 30 days. We will also be dealing with the issue of cost and investors in the business will not run away.”

The state Chairman of the Nigeria Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, Saliu Sobanke, commended the sponsor of the bill, saying it was important for the development of the state.