[DR1] With no title, houses lose value

[NewsWhore]

The Dominican government has built thousands of housing units for low-income families. However, many of the families that have acquired these units and have paid off their mortgages are discovering that they cannot obtain full and clear title to their properties because the government has not completed the process of compensating the previous owners or tenants of the land used to build the apartment complexes. As a result, families wanting to use their paid-for housing units as collateral are experiencing great difficulties in the real estate markets since they do not posses clear title. The National Housing Institute (INVIVIENDA), the National Institute for Housing and Assistance (INAVI), the National Housing Bank (BANAVI) and the National Assets office (DBN) are all involved in the process. Current estimates say that there is a deficit of 600,000-700,000 public housing units for low-income earners. According to the National Coordinator of Title Registrars, magistrate Wilson Gomez Ramirez, when families that have paid off their mortgages want to acquire a second mortgage, or sell the property that they "own", they find that a lack of a clear title forces sellers to accept lower prices. According to the expert, "if they had titles, they could have access to mortgage loans and keep their assets."

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