In a surprise visit by President Laura Chinchilla to communities in the Carrillo and Liberia cantons of Guanacaste, more than $288,000 of mortgage debt was forgiven for 60 low-income families. President Chinchilla had previously announced that Guanacaste was going to be her first stop in Costa Rica after the holiday break, but none of the families were expecting to get a belated Christmas gift.

The two communities benefited by this magnanimous display were Curime in Liberia and Palmira in Carrillo. Most of the families whose debt was forgiven are single-mother households. They had participated in a special home ownership program whereby a new working-class community was built for them by the National Institute of Housing and Urbanism (Spanish acronym: INVU). These families previously lived in austerity, but they were encouraged to save and contribute to a special government fund. Once they moved into their new homes, they started to make reasonable mortgage payments.

Speaking on the mortgage debt forgiveness, President Chinchilla explained that:

“There is no greater satisfaction and happiness for us than to be able to improve the living conditions of so many families, who for various reasons had already fallen behind on their debt obligations. Today we are excited and we thank God and all those who helped in solving this problem.”

This is not the first time that the government has had to assume a forbearance and loss mitigation role with regard to housing in Guanacaste. Although luxury developments are going up all across Costa Rica’s Gold Coast, income inequity and unemployment are diminishing the economic opportunities of the working class.

On the issue of providing housing for the poor in Costa Rica, President Chinchilla has been on a roll lately. On December 20^th, she traveled to the farming region of San Carlos and handed out house keys to six low-income families in farming communities. This was not a full INVU project, however, local co-ops and organizations such as Rotary International also pitched in to match a percentage of the $108,000 provided by the government.

Source: Realidad Nacional