There are many people who were affected by abusive clauses in their mortgage loans, such as floor clauses, expenses, multi-currencies, abusive delay interest rates, etc.. In many cases and for various reasons, sometimes because of these abusive clauses, mortgage holders could not pay their loan and ended up losing their house, or handing over their property to the bank in lieu of payment of the debt, which is also known as Dation in Payment. There are also many people affected by these types of clauses that have already cancelled their mortgage loans.
It is possible that many of the people affected paid thousands of euros for abusive interest rates, floor clauses, etc., but they think that since the mortgage is over or they lost the property, they can no longer claim.
We understand that this is not the case, and that they can claim the nullity of these abusive clauses and request the return of the amounts unfairly paid as a consequence.
First of all we must point out that the legal justification by which you can claim, even if the mortgage loan is finished or the property handed over in lieu of payment of the debt, is that these clauses), are in most cases null and void because they are abusive or non-transparent. They therefore, if null and void, cannot be validated, endowed with validity, or confirmed. Therefore, we understand that the termination of the loan does not affect the possibility of claiming for these concepts.
Secondly, because being absolutely null clauses, the possibility of claiming a declaration of nullity is not subject to a statute of limitations, thus, it can be requested to be declared null and void at any time, without this request having a specific deadline.
This has been stated in repeated judgments by the Spanish Supreme Court, which has said that “when it comes to absolute nullity, the action neither expires nor prescribes, among other the Supreme Court decision of 25th April 2013. “
Thus, the court precedents from Spanish courts has declared that the cancellation of a mortgage loan either by payment, or by transferring the property in lieu of payment or dation in payment, does not prevent a posteriori discussion about the nullity of a null clause, either for lack of transparency, or for abusiveness, etc.
This conclusion is gathered in numerous jurisprudence, as for example the court decision of the Provincial Court of Cordoba, of 02/14/2018; court decision of the Provincial Court of Granada dated 04/24/2018, etc.
Thus, if you could not pay your mortgage and lost your home, it is very possible that your bank charged you abusive delayed interest, and perhaps you were affected by other abusive clauses that you do not know about.
Likewise, if you paid your mortgage off, it is possible that you were affected by a floor clausethat forced you to pay all expenses, etc.
For all this, even if you have paid or cancelled your mortgage loan, or even if you lost your home when you could not pay it, you should be aware that you can claim for the abusive clauses. Contact us and we will help you.
The information provided in this article is not intended to be legal advice, but merely conveys general information related to legal issues.
Carlos Baos (Lawyer)
White & Baos
Tel:+34 966 426 185
E-mail: info@white-baos.com
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