MORTGAGE FORMALISATION EXPENSES IMPROPERLY CHARGED BY BANKS CAN BE RECLAIMED
Thursday, December 22, 2016 @ 11:36 AM
The Supreme Court Judgment 705/2015 of December 23rd declared the clause by which BBVA imposed on borrowers the payment of all expenses, taxes and commissions related to mortgage loans to be abusive.
By virtue of this, they will be able to reclaim:
Notary's and Land Registry’s invoices- The expenses corresponding to the formalisation and registration of notarial deeds, necessary for the constitution of an effective guarantee i.e. of the mortgage
Stamp Duty. The Supreme Court understands that the taxable person is the Bank or Lender, and not the borrower.
The same as what happened with "floor clauses" (cláusulas suelo), the content of the Judgment opens the door to considering similar clauses of other entities as equally abusive and void.
The first step to recover the amounts would be the filing of a claim with the Bank itself. If they do not answer within two months or reject the request, then the case may go to court.
The term of the claim, for those mortgages in force, is four years from the day following the date of the said Judgment. Therefore, the deadline would be the 24th of December 2019.
For those mortgages that have been fully paid, the claim can still be made, if the total payment was made within the four years prior to 23rd of December 2015.
As this is a complex legal issue, we advise you to contact expert lawyers.