FAQ: Private Treaty

Private Treaty Sale is one of the methods used by financial institutions such as the NHT, to legally recover outstanding mortgage loans in default, and which are secured by properties such as residential homes. 

You can apply by doing the following:

( i ) Visit the property of choice to determine its external condition, and if it is in a suitable location;

( ii ) If you are interested in purchasing the property, write a letter, referred to as a “Bid”, which must include the following information:-

• Full address of the property/ies of choice;
• Specific amount(s) being offered to purchase the property/ies;
• Your full name, mailing address, and telephone contact number(s);
• State whether you will be purchasing the property with Cash or by getting a loan from a financial/mortgage institution;
• Ensure that your bid/letter is signed by yourself and any other person (if you and other persons are bidding on the property together);
• state exactly how much you are offering NHT for the property. Do not state a range for your offer (e.g. $1.5m to $2.m);
• Place your bid in a sealed envelope and mail or deliver it at any of our offices. Do not send your bid by email or fax transmission. The bid should be addressed as follows:(To be opened only by Private Treaty Committee) Private Treaty Committee, P.O. Box 152, Kingston 5.

( iii ) Attach the following documents to your “bid” /letter:

• Proof of required deposit
• Letter from financial/mortgage institution indicating that you can afford a loan, and details of the loan;

*N.B. Your bid will be disqualified if these documents do not accompany your letter.

An 'Asking Price' for each property is displayed. This price is the amount we will be prepared to consider as an offer to purchase the property. Please note that this figure is subject to change from time to time.

*N.B. We reserve the right to accept or reject any bid, and we are not compelled to sell the property to the highest bidder.

You will be required to pay the difference between the bid amount and the maximum loan entitlement. This is also subject to your ability to repay the loan. You must provide evidence that you can pay this shortfall before the sale/purchase processes can commence.

There will be some specific legal fees which you will be required to pay to enable us to not only register your name(s) on the Title as owner(s) of the property, but also the mortgage loan. These fees are approximately 3% of the sale price, and represent half costs for stamp duty and registration.

(N.B. The 3% is based on the Stamp Commissioner’s assessment of the value of the property, and the cost to register the mortgage loan may vary depending on the Institution from which you will be obtaining the loan)

(a) You must be a first-time homeowner, and currently making contributions to the Trust. However, for more details of the eligibility requirements you may either visit the Customer Service Department at the nearest Branch Office, or visit the Loans section of the website by clicking on the  “Loans”  link in the menu for more information.

N.B. If you are not qualified for a NHT loan, you may still be allowed to purchase a property; however, we will not grant you the loan. Financing must therefore be sought from another source.

(b) You may use the Ten Plus (10+) Loan to purchase a property being sold by Private Treaty provided:

• the previous NHT loan was obtained at least 10 years ago;
• you are not currently a home-owner;
• your current non-home -owner status is not as a result of failure to meet NHT’s required mortgage payments.

(c) If you are successful in bidding on more than one property, you will be allowed to purchase these properties, subject to proof that you can afford to pay for each one. However, we will grant you a mortgage loan on only one (1) property, if you are eligible for a non-home-owner’s loan or a loan as outlined at item (b) above.

Yes, provided that you can satisfy the requirements.

Vacant possession is not guaranteed. If the unit is still occupied by the previous owner(s) or is tenanted, upon receipt of Letters of Possession from the Trust, you will be responsible for ensuring that the property becomes vacant by serving a notice to quit on the occupants, and pursuing Court action for recovery of possession.

We cannot give you permission to access the property, however, if the occupant(s) is/are willing to allow you access to any area of the property, this is done at his/her own discretion.

The properties are sold on an “as is” basis, therefore if upon inspection, any damage is identified, we do not accept responsibility for same.

We will give priority to “Cash purchase” for these properties; however, mortgage loans will be provided to qualified contributors provided that when the bids/ letters are being submitted, the persons who are interested in purchasing the properties do the following:

• indicate that they agree to purchase the property even though there is no Registered Title;
• provide proof of how the property will be purchased ( i.e by cash, or by getting a loan from a financial/mortgage institution).

We reserve the right to withdraw the offer of sale of a property to a successful bidder if:-

• the defaulting mortgagor makes acceptable arrangements to settle the outstanding payments on his/her account, before the successful bidder pays the required deposit;
• the successful bidder fails to provide required documents within the established time-lines, or the information and contents provided in the documents presented do not meet established standards.
• the successful bidder is unable to satisfy payment of all costs to complete the sale;

N.B. We will allow any bidder to re-bid on the same, as well as any other property, if the property is subsequently re-listed for sale by Private Treaty.

Bids are opened twice per month, usually on the second and fourth Thursday of each month.

If the bid is considered to be acceptable, and the Private Treaty Committee has approved sale of the property to a successful bidder, the successful bidder will receive a telephone call to firstly indicate the success of his/her bid, and advised that the letter of approval and other offer conditions should be collected from the NHT's office within two (2) working days of receipt of the approval.

The unsuccessful bidder will be sent a letter, by mail, advising of the status of his/her bid, within five (5) working days of receipt of approval. The bidder whose bid was disqualified will be sent a letter, by mail, advising of the status of his/her bid, within the same time-line. 

N.B. If a sale is not approved, the NHT will continue to invite interested persons to make offers to purchase the property. 

We would appreciate if this request is given urgent attention, in keeping with a recommendation made by our internal auditors.

Your bid will be rejected if:

• you do not state your name, and did not sign the letter (if your bid was typed);
• you do not state the exact address of the property you wish to purchase;
• you state a range of figures ( e.g $1m to $ 2m) for your bid sum instead of one amount;
• the property is not on the list of properties which the Trust is selling by Private Treaty;
• words and figures in your bid letter do not agree;
• Real Estate Agents who are making bids on behalf of bidders, do not attach a signed copy of the bid from the bidders;
• when the bid/letter is opened, the information does not clearly indicate that a bid is being made on a property.
• a higher bid is received from another person.
• your proof of deposit and mortgage financing documents did not accompany your bid letter;
• a certified Power of Attorney document giving authorisation for your Agent/Representative to make a bid on your behalf is not received.

No. You are required to send a new letter/bid with the correct information.

You may click on the "Properties for sale" link

OR

Visit the nearest NHT Branch Office or Service Centre and speak with a Customer Service Representative;

OR

You may give us a call at the following numbers:
(876) 929-6500 –9 or toll free at 1-888-CALL NHT.

Sealed bids (in envelopes) should be given to the Receptionist at any of the NHT’s Branch Offices/Service Centres, between the following hours each day:

• Mondays to Thursdays - 7:30 a.m to 3:00p.m.
• Fridays - 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

You must ensure that all the requirements outlined for purchasing a property are strictly followed in submitting your bid.