What happens to the IRPH Mortgages after the Supreme Court ruling? Where and how can the money be claimed

• Mortgages.The Supreme Court rejects that the IRPH is abusive despite acknowledging its "lack of transparency"

• Courts What exactly is the IRPH index and how can I know if my mortgage has it

The Supreme Court has ruled this Wednesday on

.

It is a reference index endorsed by the Bank of Spain, which became popular a few years ago and that the collapse of the Euribor made the mortgages referenced to it more expensive on average 150 euros.

The High Court, despite verifying "lack of transparency" in their commercialization, has not considered them abusive, which has given the banks air.

But does this mean that it is definitively closed?

Is it the door to legal claims by users?

Can those affected continue to claim money?

Manuel Pardos

, president of the Association of users of banks, savings banks and insurance (

ADICAE

) explains that the way to claim money from the bank by the IRPH must now be done individually, and regrets it since their association prefers the option of a collective lawsuit or an out-of-court negotiation.

The possibility, in his opinion, is still possible

even for those who have already paid off their mortgage loan

. "The sentence refers to four specific cases, it does not speak of all (mortgages)," he recalls for his part

Jesus Ruiz de Arriaga,

managing partner of

Arriaga law firm.

The lawyer also points out that there are judges who have already ruled in favor of their abusiveness. Everything remains the same, according to their criteria. In the rulings on the IRPH issued by regional courts, the index has been declared abusive on occasions and this

it has been replaced by the Euribor, more advantageous for the consumer, or

or i know

has eliminated the interest rate,

as sentenced by a Toledo court.

The difference that had been paid so far was returned.

What does the bank think of the Supreme Court ruling?

He

spokesperson for the AEB banking association, José Luis Martínez Campuzano

, I declare that

the Supreme Court "has settled the matter

not declaring the IRPH clause abusive ", included in some mortgage loans. The bank highlights that the Supreme Court has also confirmed" the previous criterion of the court itself and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on the validity of the use of the index and that it is not abusive. "

And how have the user associations reacted?

"It is paradoxical and unexpected" summarizes

ADICAE

, who sees the note as a delaying maneuver that "

cheats on everything normative

"and especially to the European doctrine." Consumers are clear that

the IRPH has been a clearly manipulable index

", it states

Patricia Suarez

, president of the Financial Users Association (

TO ITS END

), which also emphasizes the European path "which remains completely open".

What is the vision of the lawyers?

Jose Baltasar

, CEO of

Rosales Law Firm

thus describes the situation after the Supreme Court ruling: "

Brings more confusion, and creates uncertainty

Instead of clarifying things because the legal information they give goes against the doctrine of the Supreme Court, I am looking forward to seeing how the sentence is upheld [this Wednesday only the ruling has been made public, but the sentence remains to be seen] because

goes against the court's own doctrine

and transparency and abusiveness controls, which are linked "

Jesus Ruiz de Arriaga

, of

Arriaga

, believes that

what is expressed by the Supreme is null,

since the sentence indicates that the mortgage was neither transparent nor abusive.

The lawyer argues that "if it is not transparent, by Spanish law that result is rare since the lack of information means that it is abusive": Regarding the index itself, Ruiz points out that "

it is calculated in a way that is more systematically damaging ",

since it was not weighted and it was included within this expenses and commissions, for that reason it denounces that "its only purpose was to make money." For Baltasar, it does not enter the head of anyone in his right mind to hire a mortgage product knowing such conditions bad.

The lawyer denounces that the Supreme Court has not taken into account how a clause not explained correctly does not produce an imbalance "if this is the case there is abusiveness on the part of the lender.

Are new massive claims expected then?

ADICAE associates who were claiming the index are around 800. To these, Pardos adds that another 500 are awaiting the Supreme Court's jurisprudence.

The Rosales and Garriges law firms estimate that there are thousands of consumers who will go to court

.

In this case, Baltasar points out that "it will be the bank who will have to provide the burden of proof" since in this type of litigation it is the bank who must demonstrate that it informed the clients.

How to know if a mortgage has IRPH?

Pardos assures that the easiest way to discover if a mortgage is linked to an index is

"go to the notarial deeds

of mortgage and it would be enough to go through the pages looking for IRPH in a quick reading. "The director of ADICAE recalls that, in this case,

the name by which the product has been known is the same as the one used by the bank

, so it will appear as is.

The same does not happen with floor clauses or cards

revolving

, which were called, for example, Deferred Credit Cards or Compound Interest.

How many affected can there be?

According to ADICAE calculations

there are about 70,000 currently affected,

of the million that there was according to Baltasar.

From Arriaga

They estimate that the average IRPH mortgage loss per case is about 24,000 euros

.

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