The Supreme Court will rule on the resources already admitted for processing in relation to the mortgages referenced to the IRPH on September 30, after the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) declared last March that they are the courts Spaniards who decide whether this indicator is abusive or not.
According to Confilegal, the Civil Chamber of the High Court has announced that it will not admit any other appeal from IRPH until there is a sentence on the documents already admitted.
At the end of 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the use of the IRPH was valid and that it was not possible to subject it to a transparency control because it is an index defined and regulated by a legal norm. Following this ruling, the 38th Court of First Instance of Barcelona asked the CJEU to rule on the IRPH. The European court considers that it is an official index on which the abusiveness control can be allowed, in the sense of knowing if it was properly marketed to be incorporated into the consumer’s mortgage contract. This ruling exposes banks to greater legal risks due to the lack of transparency of this type of loan.
But the CJEU considers that the Reference Index for Mortgage Loans (IRPH) will have to be analyzed case by case by the Spanish courts. This index must have a clear and understandable wording and also its consequences must be understood by the consumer.
In the event that the wording has not been clear and understandable and sufficient information has not been provided to the consumer, adding that the calculation method must be accessible to the consumer, the index may be abusive or it may be declared as abusive, as recalls Carmen Giménez, attorney at G&G Abogados.
The experts consulted by Confilegal point out that the plenary session of September 30 is very important and that what has been said about the need to consult the BOE to know the IRPH is indefensible. It is up to the Supreme Court to clarify if the IRPH is an abusive and void clause due to lack of transparency and then what are the consequences of using the IRPH.
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