Article 28
Arrears and foreclosure
1.
Member States shall require creditors to have adequate policies and procedures so that they make efforts to exercise, where appropriate, reasonable forbearance before foreclosure proceedings are initiated. Such forbearance measures shall take into account, among other elements, the consumer’s circumstances and may consist of, among other possibilities:
(a)
a total or partial refinancing of a credit agreement;
(b)
a modification of the existing terms and conditions of a credit agreement, which may include among others:
(i)
extending the term of the credit agreement;
(ii)
changing the type of credit agreement;
(iii)
deferring payment of all or part of the instalment repayment for a period;
(iv)
changing the interest rate;
(v)
offering a payment holiday;
(vi)
partial repayments;
(vii)
currency conversions;
(viii)
partial forgiveness and debt consolidation.
1a.
The list of potential forbearance measures set out in point (b) of paragraph 1 is without prejudice to rules set out in national law and does not require Member States to provide for all of those measures in their national law.
2.
3.
4.
Member States shall not prevent the parties to a credit agreement from expressly agreeing that return or transfer to the creditor of the security or proceeds from the sale of the security is sufficient to repay the credit.
5.
Where the price obtained for the immovable property affects the amount owed by the consumer Member States shall have procedures or measures to enable the best efforts price for the foreclosed immovable property to be obtained.
Where after foreclosure proceedings outstanding debt remains, Member States shall ensure that measures to facilitate repayment in order to protect consumers are put in place.