RIYADH, 9 August 2007 — The Real Estate Development Fund denied a loan to a disabled Saudi woman because she was married, according to Al-Watan newspaper.
The woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, did not, in fact, want a full loan but a transfer of a loan taken by a man to her name. She had bought a house from the man at a price of SR700,000. The man built the house with a loan from the fund, which was being repaid on monthly installments. He had already repaid SR400,000 of the loan. The terms of the sale stipulated that she transfer the remaining amount of the loan to her name and repay it in installments.
Accordingly, the woman applied to the real estate fund to transfer the remaining amount of the loan to her. She produced all documents to prove her financial capability to repay the loan. She also brought a government employee as her guarantor to ensure that she would repay the loan.
However, the fund refused to accept her application on the ground that she was married.
A source at the fund said that the fund refused to transfer the loan to the woman because she did not meet the conditions for being eligible for the loan. According to the fund’s regulations a married Saudi woman is not eligible for a loan unless she is married to a non-Saudi.
A Saudi woman could also be eligible if she is divorced over two years, or a widow who did not remarry, or an unmarried woman above 40.
A married Saudi woman is not eligible for the loan even if she has the means to repay it. However, he added that if the instances of married women applying for loans were on the increase, a review could be made to amend the regulations.
Awad Al-Radadi, undersecretary for social care and development at the Ministry of Social Affairs said his ministry would sent a request to the Finance Ministry to exempt this woman from the disqualifying provision as she was capable of repaying the loan and fulfilled all the other conditions for being eligible for a loan.
