In recent days we have been able to successfully settle another a long-standing Spanish mortgage issue for one of our clients. After more than 15 years of worry and anxiety that the Bank would pursue them in the UK and the fear, they may one day lose their property in the UK as a result, we have reached a full and final settlement of their legal obligations and removed all threats to their future.
It is a frequent story we hear from individuals who have previously owned a Spanish property and been under the impression that they had “handed back” their property in Spain to their Bank, and as a result, all of their liabilities to the Bank would be brought to an end and the Bank would no longer pursue them.
Sadly, this is not the reality as the example below illustrates.
Case Study
This particular case involved a purchase of a dream home in Spain back in 2008, just before the credit crunch and therefore at the peak of the property market. The clients took out a Spanish mortgage to buy the property with Caja de Ahorros de Valencia. Some years later they found themselves in a position where they could not afford the mortgage payments and stopped paying the instalments, believing that the Bank would simply take the property back. By then that particular Bank had been taken over by Caixabank.
In 2023 Caixabank then transferred the rights to the debt to another company called Sirocco Lux SA. Sirocco Lux SA are an investment fund that buys bad debt (in this case a Non-Performing Loan) and then seeks to recover the money owed.
Sirocco Lux SA then instructed a further company called Hipoges Iberia to chase the debt and the clients more aggressively. Our clients were subsequently contacted, and requests were made for an amount that was far higher than the original mortgage the clients had taken out with the initial Bank in Spain. The amount owed had increased due – in part – to the addition of late payment penalties and interest added to the capital amount.
The debt had risen to €175,000.
The clients had ignored the contact by Hipoges Iberia and were, eventually, contacted by a firm of Solicitors in the UK, now brining the matter much closer to home.
After some anxious initial conversations with the client, we explained to them how the debt had risen so sharply over the preceding years and regrettably the legal demand should not be ignored any longer. We received a formal instruction to handle the matter for the client and to seek some form of solution.
An initial offer to take the property back in settlement of the debt appeared to have been made but the details of the agreement were not as immediately indicated, and the clients were at risk of confirming things that may have been detrimental to their case had they not taken legal advice from us.
We took over the discussions with the Solicitors acting for the creditor, and within a short period of time, we have been able to close the matter with a full write down of the debt of €175,000.
How can Judicare help?
We have been helping individuals to find the correct solution with regards to their problematic mortgages in Spain since 2010. Over the years our team of experts have acquired the knowledge, skills and experience in finding the optimum solutions for our clients. So, if you are facing problems with your mortgage in Spain our specialist Solicitors can help you explore your options, including negotiating full and final settlements or variations to the mortgage debts.
Below are just some of the reasons why our clients instruct us:
- Our legal team have decades of combined experience of handling Mortgage problems in Spain.
- We are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and as such we carry professional Indemnity Insurance giving you vital protections and redress in the unlikely scenario something goes wrong.
- We have successfully negotiated over £40million of foreign Bank debt being written off for our clients.
- Using a Claims Management Company (CMC) or a so called “advisory firm” providing foreign property debt solutions across the EU can be risky, as there are no safeguards or any regulatory redress for clients if something goes wrong.
If you have received a letter from a Spanish Bank or a third party acting on behalf of the Spanish Bank, or have fears you may soon receive a letter, a member of our team will be happy to take your call on a confidential basis at 01438 840258 or via email to admin@judicaregroup.com
We can also arrange a free no obligation teleconference via Zoom/Skype.
Getting in touch will allow us to understand your individual circumstances and discuss with you your concerns and objectives. Working with you we can then decide upon the correct strategy to approach and find the solution which is right for you.