The Base Clause (Clausula Suelo) etc.

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costa-brava
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The Base Clause (Clausula Suelo) etc.

Post by costa-brava »

I don't think I've seen any mention of this in LMH. The last post had lots of discussion about banks but do you know that there were two high court judgments to make the banks pay back overcharging on mortgages in Spain?
The main one is "clausula suelo" where the bank wrote a clause into your mortgage with an excessive upper limit on interest charges. In the last couple of years you should have paid under 1% and if you have paid 2,3,4 percent you may have a claim. The very least you get is the current rate reduced.
The other one is "gastos de la escritura de la hipoteca". Here the court ruled that the costs of the survey, opening commissions and the administrative costs of registering the mortgage were down to the bank.
Even if you have paid off the full mortgage you may have a claim. And there are lots of no-win-no-fee offers out there.
I just found out by chance last week, even though it's been around for a while.
You need to have the escritura of your "hipoteca" (mortgage) not just the usual escritura of the purchase. And you need to have the last payment receipt. It is also fairly necessary to have all the receipts from the day you bought the property. If you don't have a lawyer but have a good gestor, preferably Spanish, they will put you in touch with a lawyer. The first assessment is free and if you go ahead with a claim the commission is between 15% and 20%. Your Gestor may handle it for you and split the commission with the lawyer.
For the "gastos" you stand to get over €1000 back depending on the costs at the time. For the "clausula suelo" if it applies to you, could bring you back several thousand euros. I have four mortgages affected by the "gastos" but none with the "clausula suelo".