Interview for Estadão. Read the full text
The purchase of one’s own property comes accompanied by a complicated process which, in the stage involving the banks, may confuse the consumer with the various pages and figures present in a real estate financing contract. In the midst of all this documentation, some “add-ons” manage to go unnoticed, and the consequence, at times, appears in the form of unnecessary additional fees and products that the customer pays for years believing them to be mandatory until realizing that, in fact, they were the victim of a “tie-in sale” (venda casada).
According to the Consumer Defense Code (CDC), a tie-in sale occurs when the supply of a product or service is conditioned upon the supply of another product or service. In the case of real estate financing, a classic and recurring example of this type of irregularity comes from the approval of the credit being tied to the opening of a bank account at the institution. And there are accounts that include the charging of monthly fees for “baskets of banking services,” such as withdrawals, transfers, or the issuance of statements, for example.
“Parallel” financial products and residential insurance
Besides the “mandatory” opening of a bank account to obtain financing, other financial products are commonly included in these contracts in an irregular manner. They are: capitalization bonds, credit cards, private pension plans, and consortiums. In other words, investments that bear no relation whatsoever to the financing of the property. “The nature of financing is that of a ‘simple loan.’ This means that the consumer should not be tied to other products in order for the loan to be released,” says Feitosa, a civil law attorney at Lassori Advogados. “This release must be made based on a credit analysis.”
Another point that ends up causing confusion – and that opens room for “disguised tie-in sales” – is mandatory and optional insurance. In this regard, the consumer must be aware that there are only two insurance policies that are, in fact, mandatory in real estate financing carried out through the Housing Finance System (SFH) – a category that covers a large part of the contracts and includes properties of up to R$ 1.5 million and a maximum interest rate of 12% per year plus a reference rate (TR). These insurance policies are called “MIP,” for the risks of death and permanent disability of the borrower, and “DFI,” for physical damage to the property.
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