Stakeholders in the Nigerian mortgage finance sector comprising operators, supervisory, and regulatory organs as well as key government officials have commenced moves to create an integrated web-based central mortgage asset registry system that will reveal properties on which loans have been obtained.

The proposed Mortgage Asset Registry System (MARS) is in line with the Financial System Strategy (FSS) 2020 plan on mortgage which aims to establish a safe and profitable mortgage market in Nigeria by setting up appropriate infrastructure/institutions; provide affordable and long-term mortgage to all classes of Nigerians and; enhance the use of market mechanisms to improve housing delivery system.

Analysts contend that a robust mortgage sector requires an efficient mortgage asset registry as the system would make it difficult for dubious borrowers to take multiple loans on the same property from different banks and Primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs).

MARS would be jointly implemented by Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development; Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Mortgage Banking Association of Nigeria (MBAN); Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN); Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation; National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA); and Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). The system is expected to link the Federal and States land and mortgage asset registries, facilitate due diligence for mortgage transaction and timely access to land and mortgage asset data.



http://www.vanguardngr.com