Issues to Be Addressed by Legal Framework for Protection of Mortgage Loan Consumers in Albania

This paper aims to inform banks, consumers, researchers, consumer protection organizations and other stakeholders for the importance of these regulations as well as raising some other related issues to be addressed for the protection of mortgage loan consumers. In 2014, EU political reasoning moved towards achieving a high level of consumer protection, safeguarding mortgage markets and hence preventing a second mortgage crisis, due to the current financial crisis, which had its origin in the malfunction of some mortgage markets. Albania either as an EU candidate country or as a country with the majority of banks having their mother banks from EU countries, is attempting to harmonize the rules for mortgage credit with EU Directive 2014/17/EU “On credit agreements for consumers relating to residential immovable property”. This paper analyses key uprights of a new regulation in Albania “On consumer loan and mortgage loan” and the regulation “On transparency for banking and financial products and services” which enforce the mortgage credit consumer protection attempting to harmonize the rules for mortgage credit with EU Directive 2014/17/EU “On credit agreements for consumers relating to residential immovable property” and Consumer Credit Directive 2008/48 /EC. Therefore, these regulations contribute in protecting the financial health, safety and economic interests of consumers, as well as promoting their rights for information and financial education and for organizing themselves in order to safeguard their interests, concluding that Albania as an EU candidate country has at least completed the mission in the area of mortgage loans regulation