FICP credit register: listing, duration, mortgages

When are you listed?

Repayment incident. For credit taken out for non-business purposes, service-public.gouv.fr cites four cases:

• 2 consecutive monthly payments missed;
• a non-monthly instalment unpaid for more than 60 days;
• an authorised overdraft used improperly and not regularised 60 days after formal notice, for at least €500;
• sums still owing after formal notice to pay.

The order of 26 October 2010 (art. 4) words the first case differently: payment defaults totalling at least the last two instalments due.

The 30-day notice. The lender must first inform you by letter of its intention to report you. The incident is reported to the Banque de France “at the end of a period of 30 full calendar days running from the date the information letter was sent” (our translation) (order, art. 5). This period is for putting things right or reaching an amicable agreement (service-public.gouv.fr). If your mortgage is causing problems, see also the solutions in page F1670: asking the bank for more time, borrower insurance, a court grace period.

Over-indebtedness. Filing a dossier de surendettement (over-indebtedness application) leads to automatic listing, notified by the commission (over-indebtedness committee) or the court registry (service-public.gouv.fr; Code de la consommation (Consumer Code), art. L752-2).

No charge. The costs of reporting to the register cannot be billed to the people concerned (art. L752-1).

How long does the listing last?

Sources: service-public.gouv.fr; order of 26 October 2010, art. 8; Consumer Code, art. L752-3.

For an incident, the information stays on the register “for five years from the date on which the incident became reportable” and is removed as soon as full payment is declared (order, art. 8). It is the reporting institution that must ask the Banque de France to delete it.

Checking and challenging your entry

You can check the register (service-public.gouv.fr):

• online, from your personal area on the Banque de France website, with a reply by post;
• in person, by appointment, with an identity document, at the counter of a Banque de France branch, which gives you a statement;
• by post to a local branch, with a double-sided copy of your identity document; a template letter is available.

To challenge or correct an entry, write to the body that made the listing: the lender for an incident, the committee’s secretariat for over-indebtedness. If the bank does not update the register, refer the matter to the médiateur bancaire (banking ombudsman), then to the CNIL (French data protection authority) if the problem persists. The Banque de France cannot alter the FICP itself (service-public.gouv.fr).

The consequences for a mortgage

Mandatory check. Credit institutions must consult the register before any actual decision to grant a mortgage, at the latest when the offer is issued (order of 26 October 2010, art. 2). They consult it to assess the applicant’s creditworthiness (service-public.gouv.fr).

No automatic ban. According to service-public.gouv.fr, being listed does not in principle prevent you from obtaining credit: the decision to grant the loan remains the lender’s.

During over-indebtedness proceedings, it is different: from the moment the application is filed, you must not take out new credit (service-public.gouv.fr, page F134).

In practice:

1. settle the incident: full payment leads to removal;
2. then check, by consulting your entry, that the reporting institution has indeed requested deletion;
3. for an over-indebtedness plan, get through the first 5 years without an incident to come off before the 7 years are up.

To assess your budget before a new project, use our calculateur de capacité d’emprunt (borrowing capacity calculator) and read our guide on capacité d’emprunt (borrowing capacity).

Which professional to consult

A courtier en crédit (mortgage broker) can tell you whether your application is presentable after removal and look for a lender. If you have the mortgage on a loan repaid early released, the notaire (notary) submits the deed of mainlevée (release) to the service de la publicité foncière (land registration office) (service-public.gouv.fr). To consolidate loans, see our guide on rachat de crédit (debt consolidation).