Can I get a refund using MACEDA LAW, if I stopped paying my bank loan?

Republic Act No. 6552 or the Realty Installment Buyer Protection Act, more commonly known as the Maceda Law deals primarily with one’s rights as a real estate investor or a real estate buyer paying in installments. It also describes the rights of a buyer defaulting in payments for such purchases.

Most of the time, we get inquiries or questions about Maceda Law and refund, and some of the questions involved bank loans and Pag-ibig loans that are unpaid for some reasons. In today’s real estate industry, buyers will have to pay for the equity for a number of months before their loan applications in bank or Pag-ibig gets approved. Equity payments (some call it downpayment but it shouldn’t be) are paid in 18 to 60 months depending on project set guidelines. These equity payments are paid directly to the developer’s account. Most of the developers today would request you to pay in post-dated checks for the equity. If these payments reached 24 mos or more you may use Maceda Law for the refund request.

However, the moment you are already paying for your monthly amortization in Bank or Pag-ibig. You can no longer use Maceda Law for that. Because the Property is already paid for by the financing institution. From the developers’ side, it’s already paid off. You don’t owe the developer anymore. You now owe from Bank or Pagibig or from the institution who lend you money (through a loan) and paid the remaining balance of the house in your behalf. Thus if you stopped paying for your loan amortizations, You can no longer cry for Maceda Law for that to take place. The credit bureau takes over your case and acts to foreclose your account. They do have the right to take your house from you because it’s the collateral of the loan or the money you borrowed to pay for the house.

Paying for debt is our own responsibility. Whether because you lost your job or you are simply not happy with the current situation of your subdivision, a debt is a debt you have to pay. And being unhappy is not a good reason to destroy your credit scores. Unpaid debts may not put you to jail, but you will surely lose a property (and it is stipulated in your loan agreements).