Extract of the Introduction

A mortgage credit is often the most important financial operation for an ordinary consumer and regularly the only option for the consumer to take out a loan. The topic is of utmost importance for families throughout Europe, since it also has a strong link with the fundamental right to housing. The housing market is not identical in all Member States as we have some systems mainly based on lease contracts and others where the purchase of a home associated with a mortgage credit agreement is more common. For example, the home ownership rate is 96.4% in Romania and 55.7% in Austria. At the same time, the crisis that culminated in 2008 has
shown that mortgage credit agreements can affect the stability of the financial system with significant economic and social consequences.