More and more people realize that they have a floor clause in their homes and decide to claim it from their bank. This decision took on special relevance since last December the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued the ruling that said that the amounts collected in mortgage contracts since 2009, when these clauses began to be incorporated, should be returned.
The floor clause was a measure that many Spanish banks incorporated into mortgage contracts from 2009.
As the vast majority of Spanish mortgages are in line with the Euribor – a fluctuating rate -, the banks decided to incorporate the floor clause that would allow them that the interests will not fall from a minimum,even if the Euribor to which the mortgages referred did.
Already in 2013, the CJEU considered that these clauses were abusive,because the signatories had not been duly informed of the real consequences of this clause.
This judgment referred to all mortgages signed from 2013 onwards. However, the 2016 ruling advanced the possibility of claiming the floor clause to 2009.
How to know if you have a floor clause in your mortgage
In principle, if the price of the mortgage has not fallen drastically since 2009, such a mortgage should be distrusted.
For a firmer check, the answer is on the bank’s receipt. There it is necessary to look at the interest rate applied to the mortgage.
Next, it is necessary to subtract the percentage called differential.
If the resulting amount is higher than that marked by the Euribor, that mortgage contract is one of those affected
by the floor clause and, therefore, susceptible to be claimed.
Words with which banks used to “hide” the floor clause
Some of the terms that masked the presence of a floor clause in mortgage contracts were among others:
- minimum interest
- mortgage tunnel
- interest variability limit
Tips to claim the floor clause recommended by specialists
The Government put in place an out-of-court mechanism to make the claims of the floor clause. However, it is convenient to know some tips from experts in this field.
- Put yourself in the hands of professionals. One of the tips given by specialists in this type of situation is to have professional advice. They will report when the bank is not acting in accordance with the law or which options are most convenient in certain cases.
- When claiming the floor clause, it is advisable to take advantage of the voluntary procedure through the branch, before embarking on the judicial route. It is a free process in which you must receive a response within a maximum period of three months. It is possible to download a floor clause claim model. In the case of not obtaining an answer or not being satisfied with it, it is always possible to go to court.
- It is also convenient to claim from the bank what is known as an “amortization table”. This information allows us to know what has been paid and what would have been paid if the floor clause did not exist.
- Finally, another tip is not to sign any type of agreement or document without having previously calculated the amount corresponding to the floor clause of the mortgage, which will be explained below.
Floor clause calculator: How much has the bank overcharged you for your mortgage?
Consulting a floor clause calculator is a fundamental step to avoid complications when claiming the floor clause from the bank. It allows to know in advance the amount that can be claimed from the entity.
There is the possibility of calculating it through the calculator of the floor clause of the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU),in which it is possible to detail the amount by entering some data: initial capital, date of signing the mortgage contract, applicable differential or initial interest rate, among others.
In addition, knowing in advance the amount that can be returned allows those affected other possibilities, such as previously assess whether it is profitable to initiate the judicial route in the case of amounts of floor clause not too high, since the court fees could be more expensive than the amount that can be obtained.
More and more people affected by the fraud of floor clauses are deciding to claim the amount retroactively, especially since the last judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
If it is suspected that you could be affected by the floor clause in the mortgage contract, at Ayce Laboritax we take care of offering advice for this type of situation.
