Social securitisation

Saving a foreclosed house is possible, 15 cases already solved

The advantage is for the creditor party and the debtor party who will be able to repossess the property

by Stefano Elli

15 February 2026

Tribunale fallimentare ordinario di Roma, settore civile, sezione fallimentare (Imagoeconomica)

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

A long and complex process
The node of the insolvency market
A safety net

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Successful experiment. Observable and, above all, replicable. Under certain conditions, classic real estate enforcement procedures can be overtaken by market operations, by social yield shock absorbers, which ultimately prove much more satisfactory (for the creditor) than classic bankruptcy auctions and which, not least, can allow the debtor, the owner of the disputed or enforced property, to continue to live in it, paying a rent to the special purpose vehicle entrusted with the collection of the enforced debt. All the way to the desired final stage: the repurchase of the real estate by the person who has been ousted from ownership.

A long and complex process

The first 15 cases were completed to our mutual satisfaction, with the recovery of 52% of the value owed by the excised former owners and the remission of the remaining debt (48% of the total). Getting there was not easy. It took a long and complex process idiated in 2019, through an amendment to Law 130/99 urged by Acli, by 130 srl, by Guber Banca, an institute specialised in the management of NPLs and Utp (non-performing loans and Unlikely to pay), by Giovanni Pastore's Favor Debitoris association, and by technical experts: lawyers who are experts in securitisation and financial taxation such as the company Eagles and Wise.

The Catholic University is also involved

Also involved was the Catholic University of Milan, and in particular its former pro-rector (now constitutional judge) Antonella Sciarrone Alibrandi, who worked to develop the research and the model, the success of which was due to a long mediation effort by various associations, institutions and industrial partners who applied themselves in the research and experimentation.

The node of the insolvency market

The aim was to untangle the knot of the insolvency market and its guarantees, safeguarding the primary social function of housing, especially in such a dramatic phase as Covid-19. "What is unfolding today is in fact a tragedy in three acts. Act One: one loses one's job and is no longer able to repay mortgage repayments. Act Two: one loses one's home, with the very serious psychological consequences associated with that. Act three: in most cases one also loses one's family and what follows,' explained Francesco Guarneri, CEO of Guber Banca, in 2022.

A safety net

And Guarneri went on to say, 'Why not set up a safety net to protect those households most exposed to the crisis and the increasingly rapid pace of property executions? All this, of course, respecting the market needs of the companies that manage those funds'. In a nutshell, this is a normal market transaction not unlike other securitisation operations. In fact,' explains Giovanni Pastore, 'after the originator (the bank that issued the loan) has put it up for sale, the buyer (the Spv) who has acquired the credit packages at a vile price can make a profit at auction, which is estimated on average to be 35% of the value of the credit acquired.

Tested operations

Well, with the operation we have tested, the Spv has managed to recover a percentage of 52, a much higher figure than that recoverable with real estate execution, offering the former owner the opportunity to repay it with a commensurate fee" . And this despite the opposition of the banking system fearful of a potentially 'instrumental' use of this contrivance. In fact, the credit system has expressed more than one perplexity about the idea, arguing that its systematic application could favour access to credit by subjects who, perfectly aware of not being able to pay their debts, once the property has been repossessed, would be able to get back in through the window. "A peregrine possibility," says Biagio Riccio, a lawyer who has always followed these problems, "also in view of the numerous, objective and almost insurmountable difficulties faced by 'bad payers' in our country. If I see a problem, it is, if anything, in the actual ability of institutional investors and companies specialised in the management of difficult problem loans to put money into the fund". "Certainly," adds Pastore, "there are and technical difficulties in continuously following up individual cases that risk slipping out of the organisations' control, but our documented experience has shown that it can be done.

Stefano Elligiornalista
Luogo: Milano
Lingue parlate: Inglese
Argomenti: patologie finanziarie, criminalità finanziaria, riciclaggio, risparmio tradito, finanza
Premi: Premio giornalistico Federico Caffè 2017
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