S.L. 376.10 Art. 34Arrears and forbearance measures.

(1) Creditors shall exercise, where appropriate, reasonable forbearance before enforcement proceedings are initiated and such forbearance measures shall take into account, among other elements, the individual circumstances of the consumer:

Provided that in justified cases, creditors shall not be required to offer forbearance measures reiteratively to consumers.

(2) The forbearance measures referred to in sub-regulation

(1) may include, among other possibilities, a total or partial refinancing of a credit agreement and shall include modification of the existing terms and conditions of a credit agreement, which may, among other possibilities include:

(a) extending the term of the credit agreement;

(b) changing the type of the credit agreement;

(c) deferring payment of all or part of the repayment of instalments for a period;

(d) reducing the borrowing rate;

(e) offering a payment holiday;

(f) partial repayments;

(g) currency conversions; or

(h) partial forgiveness and debt consolidation:

Provided that the aforementioned list is without prejudice to any other rules provided in national law including in particular the national provisions implementing the European Banking Authority Guidelines on management of non-performing and forborne exposures and the European Central Bank Guidance to banks on non-performing loans.

(3) Creditors shall not be required to perform a creditworthiness assessment in accordance with regulation 18 when modifying the existing terms and conditions of a credit agreement in accordance with sub-regulation (2)(b), provided that the total amount payable by the consumer is not significantly increased when modifying the credit agreement.

(4) Where the creditor defines and imposes charges on the consumer arising from the default, such charges shall not be greater than is necessary to compensate the creditor for costs it has incurred as a result of the default.