The FGTS can be used to write off installments of more than R $ 1.5 million

Starting in August, workers will be able to use resources from the Stop Out Compensation Fund (FGTS) to reduce premiums for the first property funded by the SFI, which funds properties with free resources from banks. This measure was approved today (11) by the Board of Trustees of the Fund, and it will take effect within the next 90 days.

With the decision, the borrower will have two possibilities. Initially, you can use your account balance to reduce the debit balance of the property. In the second, you can deduct up to 80% of the premium for 12 months, extendable at the end of each period.

Until now, the use of FGTS to pay off part of the mortgage has been limited to the Housing Funding Scheme (SFH), which also funds units up to R $ 1.5 million, but interest is limited to 12% per annum and is partially paid. With savings account resources. The permission has been extended to SFI, which has no interest limit and its main source of funds from large corporate investors, such as commercial banks and investment banks.

The measure will only come into effect in August because the FGTS Board of Trustees has given 90 days for financial institutions to adjust. The agency also imposed certain conditions. FGTS funds can only be used to cover the financing of the first property, and the borrower must have had an account with the escrow fund for more than three years.

Portability

At today’s meeting, the Board of Trustees also changed the rules to make it easier to transfer contracts, allowing financing to be carried over to lower-interest banks. In the case of discounts on the value of the property to reduce the premium, the financial institution receiving the financing must return the deducted amount to the FGTS and include the amount in the outstanding balance.

The board also specified that interest on new financing after bank migration could not be less than 6% per annum, the current income from FGTS. The aim of the change is to prevent any transfers from causing losses to the fund. Today, home loans with FGTS money charge up to 8.16% per annum, given the bank’s margin. With the new rules, each borrower will have to do the math to see if portability will be beneficial.