With the number of defaulting debtors on the increase, and the worst still to come, banks have started talks about launching a centralised database that would register all defaulting debtors to banks, district heating, water and electricity companies in the country, Bulgarian media said on February 22 2010.

Anyone registered in the database could see an application for a bank loan rejected, even if the application was filed in a different part of the country.

Over 2009, more than 17 000 new cases against defaulting debtors had been launched, Bulgarian-language daily Monitor said.

Total default debt had reached almost one billion leva, Monitor said.

According to private bailiff Marian Petkov, cited by Monitor, the worst was yet to come, although no sudden jumps in numbers were expected. Banks would try to defer or postpone payments, instead of repossessing properties.

"Lenders are not interested in becoming real estate agents; they just want their money," Petkov was quoted by Monitor as saying.

Though the number of cases over the past several years was increasing,  the amounts collected decreased, Petkov said. Over 2009, private collectors collected 320 million leva, 80 million less than the year before.

Around 90 per cent of debtors had either lost their job or were in receipt of lower incomes, while their real estate were generally smaller homes or studios.

Since the collapse of the real estate market, the value of these properties had dropped and currently only cover about 75 per cent of the value of the mortgages, Monitor said.