Citizen TV journalist Jeff Koinange inked a last minute deal with the NCBA Bank and stopped the auctioning of his two four bedroom villas over a Sh130 million mortgage debt.
Auction of the villas in Kitsuru surbub had been scheduled for Tuesday but Mr Koinange managed to convince NCBA to hold the exercise with another repayment deal that kept off Garam Investments from bidding the houses.Jeff Koinange speaks on auctioning
The exercise was halted when Garam had received interest from many investors who were to place a minimum deposit of Sh5 million prior to the bidding of the prime homes valued at Sh200 million in the Kenyan market today.
“NCBA reached a last-minute agreement with Mr Koinange and the auction was stopped We got the notice to stop the public auction this morning, but we were already prepared for the sale,” said the source from Garam Investments.
NCBA refused to reveal details of the new loan agreement, arguing that lenders are barred from discussing borrowers’ contracts in public. The bank wants to recover at least Sh65 million from the sale of each of the two villas because Mr. Koinange defaulted to clear a debt last year.
The outspoken TV host was living in one of the villas and rented out the other one. The houses sit on 0.67 acres and both have servants’ quarters.
Mr Koinange is the only journalist among prominent kenyans who have been threatened with auction over uncleared loans. Mostly these stories are associated with politician and retired senior civil servants.
Former Cabinet minister Suleiman Rashid Shakombo lost his house in Kilimani over unpaid bank loans and assistant minister Stephen Tarus is having sleepless nights to stop the auction of his Karen home.Koinange
Cases of mortgage defaults have been on the rise these days pointing to a widespread distress in the real estate sector as defaults in the property market reflect the struggles that mortgage holders are undergoing in an economy that is experiencing massive job losses across all sectors with corporates intensifying austerity measures to protect their profits.
