The Homes of Argentines Are at Risk in I.M.F. Talks By LARRY ROHTER
BUENOS AIRES, June 22 — After a decade as renters, Ariel and Norma Brofman were finally able to buy a small house here four years ago. But if the Argentine government yields to International Monetary Fund pressure to rescind emergency legislation meant to protect ordinary families like the Brofmans, the couple stand to lose their home and the $32,000 they have paid for it so far.
Like other middle-class Argentines, the Brofmans, whose household includes their two daughters, aged 9 and 13, and their widowed mothers, were severely battered by the collapse of the economy here last year. In just a few months, Mr. Brofman lost his job as an electronics technician, exhausted his scant savings and fell behind on the monthly $555 mortgage payment on their two-bedroom, 1,000-square-foot house.
"We did not create this situation," said Mr. Brofman, 38, who now tries to make ends meet by repairing cellular telephones. "The rules of the game were changed on us from one day to the next, and we were hoping the government would take steps to defend us until this country is back on its feet and we can begin paying again."
So nearly a year ago, at the peak of the crisis, the Argentine Congress approved a bill that suspended mortgage foreclosures for 90 days on homes that were a family's "sole and permanent residence." That law has since been renewed three times, but will expire in August unless Congress extends it again.
It has, however, brought the Argentine government into conflict with the I.M.F., whose managing director, Horst Kohler, is scheduled to arrive here Monday for a two-day visit. Though Argentina now has a budget surplus and has taken numerous other steps urged by the I.M.F., government officials say that the fund is insisting that the freeze on foreclosures be lifted as a pre-condition for any comprehensive agreement.
full: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/23/international/americas/23ARGE.html
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