“Despite the initial reluctance of the banks to return the money, little by little the pressure from consumer associations and the courts have been protecting the rights of the affected clients,” said Irache, who recalled that “it was first recognized that in the vast majority of cases the inclusion of this clause had been done abusively “and, subsequently,” from Europe it was determined that, if a clause was abusive, the consumer should receive in full all the money that he had paid for it from the signing of the contract “.
The association has highlighted that “in a good part of the cases” that it has managed “the friendly way has solved the problem”. In the case of land, “almost three million euros have been recovered for consumers without having to go to court”, while the rest of the amounts have been the result of a judicial process.
Irache has filed more than 1,650 lawsuits in the courts for banking issues and most of them are for the inclusion of the floor clause. “In almost 100% of the cases the protection of the rights of their associates has been obtained and that they return the money that has been charged more”, he stressed. However, the association has remarked that it continues to work and there are cases and demands that “are still pending resolution.”
Among the cases to be solved, there are those of “many consumers whom their bank called to sign agreements by which, in exchange for some change in the loan conditions, they renounced to recover the money they had paid more for the land “. “Fortunately it seems that in a good part of these cases the consumer will be able to recover this money,” said the association, who recalled that “after the European justice has pronounced, the bank will only be able to avoid returning the money if it shows that it was a negotiated agreement in which he informed in a transparent way of the consequences that could have for the consumer “.
In many cases, together with the floor clauses, the mortgage constitution expenses are also being claimed, mainly for registration, management and notary. The full refund of the first two items and half of the third is already being recognized.
In addition, some loans are also claiming other “possible abusive clauses” such as interest on late payment, early maturity or the opening commission.
Irache is also filing lawsuits for loans or cards called ‘revolving’, which “offer excessive interest rates and many people see how the years have passed, they have paid almost double the money they were loaned and even and everything still owes amounts to the bank “.
Demands are also being placed on a more timely basis for complex banking products such as swaps, convertible bonds, subordinated debt or multi-currency mortgages.
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