To prevent incidents of fraud by availing multiple loans against the same property, the Central Registry of Securitisation Asset Reconstruction & Security Interest of India (CERSAI) and Credit Information Bureau (India), abbreviated as Cibil, have decided to create a link between their websites. This will enable the lender to view at one go the borrower?s credit score and the encumbrance status of the property offered as collateral.
Nearly 300 banks, financial institutions and housing finance companies have registered themselves with CERSAI and are filing the details of the mortgages accepted by them, depositing title deeds. CERSAI has a database of more than 75 lakh records of equitable mortgages. Before accepting any title deed for mortgage, banks can look up the CERSAI database to ensure that there is no existing mortgage/loan against the property. RV Verma, CMD, National Housing Bank, said the information that lenders get after the synchronisation of the websites will act as a risk mitigant for the industry. M V Nair, chairman, Cibil, said that gathering information about borrowers and security was expensive and the move will boost credit penetration.