The Supreme Court of Spain in its Court Decision number 705/2015 of the 23rd December, already been confirmed by several courts, said that mortgage loan clauses obliging the customer to pay the costs – such as the notary, registration, and bank expenses – are abusive.
This is because they are expenses that must be paid by the banks, as they are the ones who have the real interest in the registration of the mortgage at the property registry, as guarantee of the loan payments.
Thus, if you have a mortgage with any Spanish bank, when you signed your mortgage, the bank retained some money, to pay on your behalf and through the bank, the expenses of the registration of the mortgage loan deed.
What can you claim? In principle, you can claim for the expenses of the notary, land Registry, the expenses of the bank’s agency for the registration process of the mortgage deed, and the Stamp Duty Tax (AJD – although not all the judges agree about the possibility to claim for the tax paid.
Who can claim? Any consumer who has signed a mortgage deed in Spain, and the bank has obliged him to pay the expenses of the said deed; that means the vast majority of consumers who have signed a mortgage in Spain.
How much can you claim? It will depend on the amount (the capital) of the mortgage loan, the documentation attached to the deed, the processing fees charged by the bank agency, but, as an example; for a mortgage loan of about 150,000 Euros, the expenses that can be claimed would be between 3,000 Euros and 3,500 Euros and if we include the taxes (AJD) the expenses can amount up to 7,000€.
In order to claim we need:
+ a copy of your mortgage deed
+ a copy of the invoices paid for the mortgage to the notary, land registry, registration proceedings, etc.
+ a copy of the AJD tax paid (tax form 600).
+ a copy of the invoice showing the amount paid to bank agency to manage the registration process of the mortgage at the land registry.
What if I do not have the documentation? The bank or its agent has an obligation to provide you with all the invoices of the amounts paid on your behalf, because they normally retained the money, and they must show what and how they spent the money withheld.
Contact us, send us the documentation, 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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