Hacked!!! Why Indian Sailors Get a Loan Rejection?

Ravi Saini, age 35, works as an Electro-Technical Officer (ETO) in the merchant navy. He stays on the ship for 6 months and monitors all the electronic and the electrical instruments. Though he enjoys lucrative pay package and additional tax benefits but remains far away from his family for half of the year. IIFL Home Loans appreciates Ravi and other marine professionals for their instrumental role in the economic development and international trade. 

Ravi has now returned to his hometown and wants to take the keys to his dream home. For that, he needs a home loan from a prominent lender. Acting on the advice of his near and dear ones, he applies for a home loan in a private bank without in-depth research about the documentation requirements of the lender. His application gets rejected and he now starts browsing the internet for more accurate information.

We want mariners like Ravi Saini to avoid painful mortgage errors. “There is nothing more important than a good, safe and secure home.” This old age saying of “Rosalynn Carter” is applicable for all staying on land and sailing in international waters. Interestingly, sailors termed as ‘Shippies’ have different home loan eligibility criteria than the other resident or nonresident Indians. They need to comply with certain rules and conventions to get their home loans approved. 

They need to provide the following documents to get their housing loans approved -

Continuous Discharge Certificate (C.D.C)-

This is considered as the most vital identity document of sailors and other marine professionals. One holding C.D.C is considered “Seaman” as per the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch Keeping (Source: Wikipedia).

In order to know the continuity in the sailor’s job, lenders generally ask for their past three years written contract copies of the job. The contract should be constituted according to the guidelines of the international authorities.

The lenders give priority to those who have good and proper employment records. Sailors holding a copy of employment contract for coming months enjoy an upper hand over their counterparts in availing the home loans in India. For example - A Captain or a First Officer is highly preferred because he/she has a job offer in advance.

In the case of field verification at the sailor’s residence, the referred person must be available to establish his identity. Unavailability of the concerned person, locked house, or temporary accommodation may result in the rejection of the home loan application.

So, we can see that the shippies have to comply with some additional rules and regulations. This is because of their unique job profile, contractual engagement for 6 to 9 months, unpaid work during the non sailing period, income via foreign currency and sailing in international waters, that increase complication in terms of their pay, job stability, and home loan recovery.

"For every problem, there is a solution", and if you have any queries regarding sailors' home loans get in touch with us