Minister for the Environment and Housing Kenred Dorsett said Thursday the Bahamas Mortgage Corporation (BMC) has arrears between $15 million and $16 million as of January.
“This total reflects arrears, including accounts past due, before and after the 90-day mark,” said Dorsett in the House of Assembly.
“It is also important to note that I have mandated the BMC board and management to focus on making the BMC financially healthier, having regard [to] the need to repay the National Insurance Board.”
Dorsett said one of the main ways to reduce the delinquency is to collect funds owed to the corporation and ensure that the corporation has an open dialogue with mortgagees.
“I also want to draw to members’ attention that there are two subdivisions, Central Pines subdivision in Abaco and Millennium Gardens here in Nassau, that have significantly compromised the financial standing of the BMC,” he added.
“Those two developments advanced by the [Ingraham] administration resulted in lots and homes being sold at significantly subsidized amounts well below the cost of infrastructure and it has resulted in losses to the housing program in excess of $20 million.”
Dorsett said the government must be prudent in providing affordable homes to Bahamians in the future. The government has committed to constructing 1,300 homes over the next five years.
Dorsett previously said the government is seeking $10 million from the National Insurance Board to fund the first phase of that program.
Former BMC Chairman Dr. Duane Sands previously noted that the corporation was $80 million in arrears.
He said back in 2011 that 38 percent of Bahamians who had loans with the corporation were delinquent.
Last month, BMC Chairman Alex Storr revealed that none of the corporation’s clients who applied for the Christie administration’s mortgage relief plan had qualified.
This came after Scotiabank Managing Director Kevin Teslyk revealed that the bank received 59 applications for the plan and no one qualified either.
The plan was projected to help 1,100 Bahamians whose mortgages were in arrears. According to the government’s latest figures, there are around 4,000 homeowners in arrears.
By Travis Cartwright-Carroll
Guardian Staff Reporter