Decision day for the one million floor clause mortgages in Spain that may have paid an average of €25,000 too much

Decision day for the one million floor clause mortgages in Spain that may have paid an average of €25,000 too much

This week, finally, Spain’s Supreme Court will rule on mortgages that were linked to an IRPH rate, more than six months after Europe left it to the Spanish judges to rule on their legality or lack of transparency. While the standard Euribor rate has been negative since February 2016, the mortgages linked to the IRPH have been paying interest at around 2%. It is estimated that the average cost of overpaid interest payments to these clients could be around 25,000 euros each. The Supreme Court validated the use of the IRPH in 2017, but Court number 38 of Barcelona raised a preliminary question to Europe to enquire about the control […]

Top European court says homeowners in Spain can claim against banks if mortgage interest rates weren’t properly explained

Top European court says homeowners in Spain can claim against banks if mortgage interest rates weren’t properly explained

The European Court of Justice has given the green light to Spanish courts to rule against lenders if mortgages were sold using the ‘more complicated’ IRPH rate rather than the more usual Euribor. Around one million mortgage holders could benefit from the top court’s ruling as the IRPH rate (an average of market rates) didn’t drop as dramatically as the Euribor in recent years. The ECJ has upheld earlier judgements that say using the IRPH is only valid if the different way of calculating it is clearly explained in the contract. Spanish courts will now have to decide on a case by case basis if compensation is due from banks. FIND OUT […]

Spanish mortgage victory leaves British couple with €15,000 in their pockets thanks to bank compensation payout

Spanish mortgage victory leaves British couple with €15,000 in their pockets thanks to bank compensation payout

Once upon a time a happy English couple (let’s call them the Smiths) who worked very hard in Birmingham all their lives dreamed of buying a property in Spain. One day they decided they had ‘had enough of rain, beer and fish and chips’ and decided to come to Spain to change it for sun, sangria and paella. But they were not 100% sure about it… it was, after all, a big move in their lives, but you only live once, so they booked their flights to Spain. They fell in love with Spain at first glance and their people and agreed to go ahead with the purchase of a […]

EU court finds the Spanish Inheritance and Gift tax discriminatory

The European court has just issued a ruling on the 3rd September which finds that the Spanish Inheritance tax is discriminatory as it applies different regulations depending on whether the heirs or beneficiaries of gifts are residents or non residents. The above mentioned ruling is important as the Inheritance tax is one of the highest in Spain, since the rates go from the minimum of 7,65% up to the 34%, depending on the wealth you get out of the inheritance/gift. The point is that as this tax is partially regional competence, many regions had designed specific tax exemptions for the benefit of those who were resident in their corresponding region. […]

Prevention of conflicts in joint ownership situations

One of the most common and most problematic situations which arise nowadays is the conflict among several joint owners of a property. The most typical case is the non married couple who purchases a house and due to subsequent disagreements starts living independently from each other. What happens if Bill (owner of 50% of the property according to the deeds) gets fed up of the property and wants to have it sold to get “his part” back, of course against Grace’s opinion? And what if Grace had paid the full investment on the property (price and costs!) and Bill had not put a cent? Is there any compensation to the […]