Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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104. To ask the Minister for Finance the restrictions, rules or regulations for regulated financial institutions in making telephone contact with mortgage holders in arrears; the number of times per day, week or month they can ring a mortgage holder; the sanctions for financial institutions that break these rules; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23579/17]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Central Bank’s Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears 2013 (CCMA) sets out how mortgage lenders must treat borrowers in or facing mortgage arrears.  The CCMA applies to the mortgage loan of a borrower which is secured by his/her primary residence. The CCMA provides that a lender must ensure that it has in place a Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process (MARP) as a framework for handling cases.  The first step in the MARP process is communication with the borrower. 

 Under the CCMA, a lender is required to produce and implement a policy, approved by the board of directors, regarding communications with borrowers. Further the CCMA provides that a lender must ensure that the level of communications from the lender, or any third party acting on its behalf, is proportionate and not excessive, taking into account the circumstances of the borrowers, including that unnecessarily frequent communications are not made. The lender must also ensure that communications with borrowers are not aggressive, intimidating or harassing and that borrowers are given sufficient time to complete an action they have committed to before follow up communication is attempted. Steps must also be taken to agree future communication with borrowers. A lender must maintain records of all communications with borrowers in mortgage arrears or in pre arrears. 

For mortgages in arrears that do not fall within the scope of the CCMA, lenders are required to comply with the arrears handling provisions of the Central Bank’s Consumer Protection Code 2012 (‘the Code’). The relevant provisions as regards ‘Arrears Handling’ are contained in Chapter 10 of the Code. The Code provides that a regulated entity must ensure that the level of contact and communications with a personal consumer in arrears is proportionate and not excessive. Each calendar month, no more than three unsolicited communications to a personal consumer in respect of arrears, by whatever means, can be initiated. This does not include any communication that has been requested by, or agreed in advance with, the personal consumer; and any communication to the personal consumer the sole purpose of which is to comply with the requirements of the Code or other regulatory requirements.

If a consumer is not satisfied with how a regulated entity is dealing with him/her, or believes that the regulated entity is not following the requirements of the Central Bank codes and regulations, the consumer should firstly make a complaint to the regulated entity. Under the Consumer Protection Code (Provisions 10.7 to 10.12), regulated entities must have a complaints procedure in place and must handle complaints speedily, efficiently and fairly. If a consumer is not happy with the response he/she receives from the regulated entity they can, provided the conduct complained of occurred within the last six years, escalate their complaint to the Financial Services Ombudsman (FSO). The FSO has the statutory powers to investigate complaints against financial services providers. 

I am informed by the Central Bank that it has a wide range of tools at its disposal to investigate and take action against regulated entities and/or individuals which fall short of its' expected standards of behaviour, up to and including, where appropriate, administrative sanctions (which can include fines and other penalties) under Part IIIC of the Central Bank Act 1942 in the case of a contravention of the above requirements.