Must read: British homeowners in Spain could be owed €50,000 due to mortgage scandal – here’s how to claim – CSN

TENS of thousands of mostly British homeowners in Spain could be owed a cool €50,000 in  compensation after crafty banks were exposed for putting a hidden clause in their mortgages.  

If you own a mortgage through Sabadell or Unicaja (or many other banks), you may be entitled to a large windfall.

It stems back to the early 2000s when a string of lenders secretly wrote in their clients’ contracts that interest rates could not drop below 3.5% – in what is now known as a ‘floor clause’.

The interest rates in Spain between 2011-2021 were between zero and one percent, a record-low.

This meant that tens and thousands of homeowners paid hundreds of Euros more per month for years than they had to.

One legal firm in southern Spain has been at the forefront of winning back money for affected homeowners – and on a promised ‘no win, no fee’ basis.

Fairway Lawyers boss Diego Echavarria (pictured above right), based in Marbella, told the Olive Press that one of his latest clients, the Coopers, were recently awarded a total of €21,075, plus legal costs.

The British family purchased a house in Riviera del sol, Mijas, Spain in 2006. They didn’t sell the home until just recently.

They had no idea about the issue of the floor clause until they read it in an Olive Press copy last year.

After six months of legal battles, Echavarria from Madrid has finally won the case.

He said, “It has always been a bit like a game. I send legal letters backwards and forth but I’ve done it for years and I know exactly what I’m going to do.”

It comes after the golf-loving lawyer, a member of Guadalmina, won another British couple, the Brighouses, €48,359, last summer.

In 2004, the couple bought an apartment off-plan in Mirador de Costalita in Estepona.

They took over the mortgage from the developer, which contained the hidden clause and they ended up paying an extra €250 per month than required.

Fairway Lawyers has won four cases in a row on Mirador de Costalita homes.

There are thousands of cases like this in Spain where victims, whether they be expats or ex-expats, were unaware that they had been victimized.

“Right away I am dealing with cases all across the country,” explained this father of two.

Warning signs

You should be looking out for two characteristics: your mortgage was signed between 2001-2010 and you have made the same payments for many years.

The lawyer who handles conveyancing and other legal matters from his Marbella office continued, “What’s important is that they won’t have lowered in years.”

He said: “You can claim even if you’ve sold your property and paid the mortgage off.

There is no time limit since the TJUE’s latest ruling.

Around 100,000 mortgages in Spain have not yet been resolved.

If you want to claim for a mis-sold mortgage or feel you may have been affected, contact diego@fairwaylawyers.com or send a message via Whatsapp to +606307885.

Simple process

What banks are involved in the floor clauses? Most Spanish banks, but especially Banco Popular (now merged with Santander), Caja Duero, Caja España (merged with Unicaja),  La Caixa, Solbank, Sabadell and many other savings banks which have since been taken over by major banks.

What is involved in making a claim for compensation? The bank will need to be contacted to attempt to settle the matter out of court. You will then have to wait for their response over a period of three months. Unfortunately, the Spanish banks will not settle their disputes and force clients to take the case to court. They do this because they hope clients will get fed-up with the process and drop the claim – which is why we operate on a no win no fee basis.