Household Debt Relief Package Goes Into Effect

Iceland’s Household Debt Relief Package voted through by parliament Friday night has already gone into effect, reports DV.

Applicants are now able to seek amendments to their indexed mortgages or allocate personal pension funds to pay down their debts via the government website leiðrétting.is.

The maximum amount of debt that applicants can apply to have written off is 4 million ISK. The site will accept applications until September 1.

The website is available in both Icelandic and in English.

The Household Debt Relief Package has been a priority for the Progressive Party who believe the initiative will help Icelandic homeowners come out from under the debts owed to the banks on their homes.

As reported, the Household Debt Relief Package will write down indexed housing mortgages and allow people to use their own tax-free, private pension holdings to pay down their debts. In effect they would be paying the debts themselves, albeit with money they normally would not be able to access until retirement.