There have been few judicial phenomena comparable to that of floor clauses. The historic European ruling on this abusive condition of mortgage contracts was the seed of the avalanche of lawsuits that was registered in the courts throughout Spain. Since the specialized rooms in this matter began to operate in the summer of 2017 until today, a period of almost five years, in Vigo a whopping 10,260 lawsuits were registered. Most of the floor clauses, but among all that barrage there were also many cases in which other conditions included in this type of loan were sued. And, at least for the time being, the phenomenon of mortgage proceedings has not come to an end as to this day we continue to receive a trickle of two new causes every day. Most of those that enter now are those related to the expenses that were paid when formalizing a mortgage, an issue that is already legally clear thanks to the European doctrine and the sentences that were dictated by the Supreme Court.
“Mortgage expense sentences also include legal interest”
“From time to time we still get a floor clause case, but they are already the least; Almost all the lawsuits that we are presenting now on mortgage matters are those related to expenses”, affirms the lawyer from Vigo Pepe Molina. The judges are sentenced to the banks, in the cases of the mortgage contracts signed before the key reform of 2019, to return to clients all the costs of management, property registration and appraisal, as well as 50% of those of the notary. “And it is important to emphasize that the sentences include the legal interest from the date of the invoices”, she deepens. The amount that citizens can recover varies depending on the circumstances of each case but, he explains, the lawyer, They can range from 600 to 3,000 eurosthe latter being more exceptional.
“People are encouraged to complain because there is legal clarity on this issue”
The lawyer Lía Fragueiro He also points out that at the present time, spending demands are in the lead. “The issue is already legally clear and people are encouraged to claim them,” says the lawyer, who points out that it is about mortgages signed before the reform. The contracts that have been signed since then are not giving rise to legal dispute. Because of the legal change that put an end to the abusiveness that existed in many of these loans and because now the citizens “are more informed” and study the mortgages in detail before signing them.
Evolution of
the demands
mortgages
in Vigo
From July to December
Evolution of
the demands
mortgages
in Vigo
From July to December
Evolution of
the demands
mortgages
in Vigo
From July to December
The new mortgage lawsuits that entered the courts in this 2021 –232 between January and March– are already being distributed to all the ordinary civil courts of Vigo. The room that was exclusively for these lawsuits, First Instance 14, is now focused on resolving those that have accumulated in recent years due to the registered flood. Along with the main magistrate of the court, there are three additional judges, two of them full time.
And when will this phenomenon end? When will mortgage demands stop? “Something new can always appear, but the legal issue regarding old mortgages is already clarified and the new ones, at least for now, are not causing problems,” the lawyers summarize. Carlos Borras y Thomas Santodomingo.
