The House refugee committee demanded on Tuesday that loan acquisition companies put all foreclosure procedures on hold for three months, after MPs were rattled by practices that put loan sharks to shame.

Committee president Nikos Kettiros called on the companies to postpone foreclosures of main residences for three months to give time to find viable solutions with the borrowers.

He also called on the borrowers living in refugee settlements and other vulnerable groups to contact the companies within the next three months for restructuring and facilitating their loans.

“If there is no response, parliament will consider legislative interventions to protect the vulnerable borrowers,” Kettiros said.

The committee will convene again to discuss the matter after the Christmas holidays, when it will know if the companies responded to the plea for dialogue and arrangements.

Kettiros said that no one was demanding that the loans be written off and pointed out that it was to the benefit of the companies not to turn people out of their homes.

He said that, according to Kedipes – state-owned asset management company – data, 763 houses in refugee settlements were mortgaged in non-performing loans, while 599 other cases concerned loan acquisition companies.

“The main home in Cyprus is protected by no one,” Kettiros stressed.

He added that borrowers had complained that they faced “threats and humiliation” when they tried to regulate their loans.

“The refugees were driven out of their homes in 1974 and the only thing they are asking for now is to die in dignity in the small houses in the settlements,” Kettiros said.

He also pointed out that it was “unthinkable” that the finance ministry was following developments “as a mere observer”.

Head of the association for the protection of borrowers Jenny Papacharalambous said it was “unacceptable for these people to become refugees for a second time”.

She said the association had called on the companies to call each borrower separately to discuss their mortgages.

Papacharalambous added that there were 512 cases with loan acquisition companies and nearly twice that at Kedipes.

The association also proposed that elderly refugees remain in the houses by paying a low rent.

Papacharalambous said the problem for many was fiscal illiteracy, as many did not know what the foreclosure letters meant.

Disy MP Rita Superman voiced her concern during the committee, pointing out that solutions should be found – through legislation, if necessary.

She referred to the case of a refugee woman who is at risk of losing her home in a government settlement, for a loan of just €20,000, while single-handedly raising a child with special needs.

Diko MP Zacharias Koulias slammed the state and banks, spoke of “unprecedented dishonesty” and blamed the 2013 ‘haircut’ for the trouble borrowers are in today.

“There are loans that from €190,000 skyrocketed to €4.5 million. Not even loan sharks do such business,” he pointed out.