When Ashish Singh (30) moved to Mumbai 10 years ago he did not even dream of owning a property in the country’s most expensive city. This pharmacy graduate from Pune had a job with a US multi-national medical equipment maker but did not save enough to buy a flat. However, five years into the job made him desire a place he could call his own.

Post-marriage in 2003, he thought of buying a 1-BHK flat in Saki Naka, Andheri (East). “I did not have any savings so the entire sum of Rs 15 lakh for the flat had to be arranged. I borrowed Rs 2.5 lakh from my friends and family members for the down-payment and took a loan of Rs 12.5 lakh from ICICI Bank at 7.5 per cent floating interest rate. At the time of giving the loan, the bank told me the interest rate would follow a trend similar to that in the US and touch 4 per cent. But that was a dream soon to go awry,” says Singh.

Paying back the loan over a 20-year term would not have been a concern with his steady income and the support of his wife, who, too, was working. “I hoped to pre-close the loan as everything was going fine. In the first 18 months, the EMIs were constant, but then the nightmare began. In mid-2005, I received a statement from the bank that the repayment term of the loan had gone up to 30 years, and that gave me jitters. I had expected to repay the loan comfortably before hitting 50, but now the EMIs seemed to continue beyond 55 years of age. The first thought that hit me was how would I pay the EMIs if I decided to hang my boots at age of 50. And the term could even go up to 40 years!” Singh says.

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