Pensioners have every reason to smile soon as PenCom approves guidelines on accessing RSA Balance for payment
of equity contribution for residential mortgage
This was contained in a statement issued by
the National Pension Commission (PenCom) stating all the necessary guidelines to access their RSA.
The commission said it is pleased to
inform all stakeholders and the general public, particularly
Retirement Savings Account (RSA) holders, that the Com-
mission has approved the issuance and immediate imple-
mentation of the Guidelines on Accessing RSA Balance
towards Payment of Equity Contribution for Residential
Mortgage by RSA Holders.
The approval is in line with Section 89 (2) of the Pension
Reform Act 2014 (PRA 2014), which allows RSA holders to use a portion of their RSA balance towards payment of eq-
uity for residential mortgage.
Below are the highlights of the Guidelines:
Eligibility: The Guidelines cover pension contributors
in active employment, either as a salaried employee
or as a self-employed person.
Interested RSA holders
(applicants) must meet the following conditions:
Have an Offer Letter for the property duly signed by the property owner and verified by the Mortgage Lender.
The RSA of the applicant shall have both employer
and employee’s mandatory contributions for a cumulative minimum period of 60 months (five years).
1. A Contributor under the Micro Pension Plan (MPP)is also eligible, provided he/she has made contribu-
tions for at least 60 months (five years) prior to the date of his/her application.
2. RSA Holders that have less than three years to retirement are not eligible.
3.Married couples, who are RSA holders, are eligi-
ble to make a joint application, subject to individu-
ally satisfying the eligibility requirements.
4 RSA holders, if registered before 1 July 2019,
‘must have their records updated through the RSA
data recapture exercise.
5 .Application for equity contribution for residential ‘mortgage shall be in person and not by proxy.
6.Maximum Withdrawal Percentage: The maximum
‘amount to be withdrawn shall be 25% of the total mandatory RSA balance as at the date of application, irre-
spective of the value of equity contribution required by
the mortgage lender.
Where 25% of a contributor’s
RSA balance is not sufficient for payment as equity
contribution, RSA holders may utilise the contingency
portion of their voluntary contributions (f any).
3. Eligibility criteria for mortgage lender: To quali-
fy as a Mortgage Lender for this purpose, the company must be licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), comply with the Contributory Pension
‘Scheme (CPS) and have valid Pension Clearance
Certificate (PCC). The Commission shall publish
‘names of the eligible mortgage lenders on its website,
The Commission, hereby, invites interested RSA holders to contact their PFAs for more information and guid-
ance.
The complete Guidelines can be found on
‘wnw.pencom.gov.ng.