The Navarra Irache Consumer Association has announced that it is preparing hundreds of appeals from people who had taken out a mortgage indexed to the Mortgage Reference Index (IRPH) following the new ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union ( CJEU).
The association announced that it will present the claims of those affected and will study the circumstances of each of them to see their possibilities. At the same time, the possibility of realizing them collectively will be studied.
As explained in a press release, the CJEU “considers that the mere fact that the definition of the IRPH, its evolution and its calculation method are published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) is not sufficient for banks to be exempt from the obligation to inform customers.
“This index is made up of the simple average of the weighted average rates of mortgages granted by savings banks with a duration of three years or more for the purchase of free housing, without any transformation”, he underlines. It is estimated that there are almost one million mortgages with IRPH in Spain.
Irache underlines that “the banks have highlighted the stability of this index compared to the fluctuations of the Euribor, but have not explained its functioning and its risks”. “The truth is that in recent years, when the Euribor was at very low, if not even negative, values, the differences between the two indices were around two points, always with the IRPH above, so many people lost thousands of euros by choosing this index”, he underlines.
The CJEU establishes that institutions must indicate to consumers that the definition and method of calculation of the index are published in the BOE in such a way that thay are ”sufficiently accessible to the average consumer” thanks to the indications provided in this regard by this bank. “In the absence of such indications, it is up to the bank to directly provide a complete definition of the index and any other relevant information, in particular the consequences of the index that may be considered notable for the consumer in order to correctly evaluate the economic consequences” of the contract .
Thus, Irache stressed that “we will now have to pay attention to the banks’ responses and how judges interpret and apply European jurisprudence in the cases that come to them from the IRPH.”
In any case, the association advised those who have a mortgage with the Irph to “seek advice to see if they can claim the cancellation of this index on their loan and the repayment of the overtaxed money”.