A recent ruling by the Supreme Court has declared abusive the clause included in the majority of mortgages that imposes on the borrower the payment of all expenses, taxes, and commissions derived from the mortgage loan.
The content of the clause was as follows: “All taxes, commissions, and expenses incurred for the preparation, formalization, rectification, processing of deeds, modification - including division, segregation, or any change that implies alteration of the guarantee - and execution of this contract, as well as for the payments and reimbursements derived from it, and for the constitution, conservation, and cancellation of its guarantee, are exclusively borne by the borrowing party, who is also responsible for the premiums and other expenses corresponding to the damage insurance, which the borrowing party is obliged to keep in force.”
Subsequently, BBVA was authorized to charge the borrower's account with the necessary amounts until the full registration of the mortgage in the Land Registry, adding the expenses, also borne by the borrower, and in case of non-payment, for the judicial or extrajudicial claim of the debt, including Lawyer and Attorney fees, even if their intervention is not mandatory. These amounts were even guaranteed with the mortgage or real guarantee itself, which is none other than the property.
These clauses attributing all expenses derived from the arrangement and development of the contract to the consumer shall be null; however, for this to happen, the borrower or debtor must file the appropriate claim with the Bank's Customer Service and, if necessary, proceed to sue in court.
