The Provincial Court of Pontevedra has declared “abusive” the expenses of a mortgage signed for the acquisition, in 1998, of a flat in Vigo. Due to the above and as stated Europa Pressthe magistrates have ordered the return of 921 euros or, what 25 years ago was the same, 153,242 pesetas.
In a ruling dated June 7, 2023, the Court confirmed the previous ruling of December 2021. In that, the Court of First Instance number 14 of the city of Olívica declared the clause “null and void” of the expenses borne by the mortgage borrower.
The facts go back to January 1998. At that time, the claimant signed a mortgage with Banco Pastor -formerly Santander- that amounted to 11.4 million pesetas, amount that should be repaid in 20 years. At that time paid 153,242 pesetas for notary fees, registration fees and the tax on documented legal acts.
When the Supreme Court established doctrine on abusive mortgage clauses, in 2017, the client sent a letter to Santander to claim the amount, however, Customer Service rejected the request. Despite the above, in 2020 the same client decided to go to the Court of First Instance to request the aforementioned amount plus another 302 euros. The judge agreed with him, although Santander filed an appeal, understanding that “there are serious doubts of law, not only with the effects of nullity due to abusive clauses, but also because the deadlines for making the claim had already elapsed”.
On the contrary, the magistrates of the Provincial Court argued that “the consequences derived from the declaration of nullity, although the doctrine is not unanimous, the jurisprudence (of the Supreme Court) is inclined to limit the imprescriptibility to the declaration of nullity”.
