DIEGO ECHAVARRIA OF FAIRWAY LAWYERS TALKS TO 55+ WELLNESS
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BRITISH homeowners are winning up to €48,500 in compensation after major banks in Spain were exposed for putting a hidden clause in their mortgages.
In the early 2000s a string of lenders secretly wrote in their contracts that their clients’ payable interest rate could not drop below 3.5% – in what is now known as a ‘floor clause’. But for 10 years, between 2011 and 2021, the interest rate in Spain sat between 0-1%. It means countless homeowners spent years paying hundreds of euros more per month than necessary.
Fairway Lawyers, based in Marbella, has been at the forefront of winning back money for affected homeowners – and on a no win, no fee basis. CEO Diego Echavarria told 55+ Wellness that one of his latest clients, the Brighouses, were recently awarded a total of €48,359 – plus legal costs.
The couple had bought an off-plan apartment in Mirador de Costalita, in Cancelada, in 2004. They took over the developer’s mortgage, which contained the hidden clause, and ended up paying €250 per month more than required. “This is the fourth case I’ve won in Mirador de Costalita alone”, says Diego, “but there are thousands of similar cases in which expats have no idea they are victims. Right now we are seeing cases involving Brits all over the country.”
If you feel you might have been affected by a floor clause, then there are two tell-tale characteristics; your mortgage was signed off between 2001 and 2010, and your payments were the same amount for a large number of years and never lowered. Diego added: “Even if you have sold the property and paid off the mortgage, you can still claim.
There is no deadline since the latest ruling from TJUE (Tribunal de Justicia de La Union Europea). There are around 100,000 mis-sold mortgages that have yet to be resolved in Spain.”
What banks were involved in floor clauses?
Most Spanish banks, but especially Banco Popular (now merged with Santander), Caja Duero, Caja España (merged with Unicaja), La Caixa, Solbank and many other savings banks which have since been taken over by major banks.
What is the process for making a claim? You need to submit a claim before the bank to try to reach a settlement out of court. Then comes a three-month period in which you await their response.
Unfortunately, the Spanish banks do not want to reach any kind of agreement or settlement and they always force the clients to go to court to get a positive ruling.
They do this because they hope clients will get fed-up with the process, and drop the claim, which is why we operate on a no win no fee basis.”
If you want to claim for a mis-sold mortgage or feel you may have been affected, contact diego@fairwaylawyers.com or send a message via Whatsapp to +34606307885.
ABOUT DIEGO ECHAVARRIA
Fairway Lawyers is a dynamic legal company formed in Marbella in 2005 by Diego Echavarria, an English and German-speaking Spanish lawyer with two decades of experience advising non-residents on the Costa del Sol and inland Andalusia.
The primary aim of Fairway Lawyers is to provide open, easy-to-understand legal advice to clients — in English, German, or Spanish.
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