The fact that SKB-Bank made such an offer to clients is stated in the report of the Sverdlovsk Rospotrebnadzor. In the autumn of 2008, borrowers of SKB-Bank (including those who had concluded an agreement without a condition on a unilateral change in the rate) contacted them and received letters "about an increase in the interest rate and monthly payment" on the loan.

The bank has the right to revise the rate, as a rule, in two cases, says Ilya Zibarev, deputy head of the retail business unit at Alfa Bank : if the value of the collateral has significantly decreased or if the borrower has failed to confirm income sufficient to meet obligations. You can appeal to the delay, non-renewed insurance, but this can be challenged in court, adds Vasily Palatkin, head of the retail unit at Rus-Bank.

SKB-bank

commercial bank. Shareholders: Sinara Group (75%), EBRD (25%). Financial indicators (RAS, March 1, 2009): assets – 40.5 billion rubles, capital – 7 billion rubles, loan portfolio – 28.2 billion rubles, deposits of individuals – 16 billion rubles, net profit – 524 million rubles.

The bank approached borrowers with such a proposal, its manager confirmed: “Most of our contracts did not have a corresponding clause, we introduced it [in the fall], when the system for buying out AHML loans failed.” The mortgage rate was increased by 2-3%, they said in the fall at the bank’s call center. Payments, according to Vedomosti’s source, increased “insignificantly,” for example, from 30,000 to 34,000 rubles. Of the 500 million rubles in the mortgage portfolio, the bank, according to him, transferred 150-200 million rubles to the new terms.

If the agreement does not provide for the bank's right to unilaterally change the rate, then without the citizen's consent to increase the rate, the obligations remain in their original form, as noted in the Rospotrebnadzor report.

The manager of SKB Bank admits this. When asked why many people agreed to the new terms, he answers evasively: "Apparently, things are not that bad for them." The bank, according to him, warned the client that the loan with the old rates would most likely be sold to a third-party investor, and in addition, the bank "records for the future" all those who refused and, based on this, will decide whether to respond to his requests (which ones, he did not say) in the future.

Clients who were late with their payments could have agreed to the rate increase, says Samvel Karakhanyan, president of the Barshchevsky and Partners Bar Association. In such cases, some banks offer a choice: early repayment of the loan or a rate increase – if the client fulfills their obligations, there is no reason to agree to the increase. Perhaps they were offered some conditions that they could not refuse, or were misled, he reasons: “In any case, it is worth applauding the borrowers who extended a helping hand to the bank, pure philanthropy!”

SKB Bank declined to comment, and its main shareholder, the Sinara Group, did not respond to the request.

Without unnecessary points