A European court ruling makes it possible to review mortgages with the Mortgage Loan Reference Index (IRPH). Thus, affected users could claim back from the banks millions of euros in additional costs that they would have had to assume to pay their mortgages

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has left the door open for Spanish judges to review the validity of mortgages that were signed using the Mortgage Loan Reference Index (IRPH), as it is more burdensome when calculating the cost of the loans.

This decision by Luxembourg stems from the consultation carried out from Mallorca by Judge Margarita Isabel Poveda, who in turn based her decision on the reports drawn up by the Balearic Government under the guidance of mathematician Guillem Bou.

hipotecas IRPH compra casa

The decision of the CJEU is contrary to the thesis maintained by the Spanish Supreme Court, which questioned the transparency of this index and considered it to be legal.

Cost overruns on mortgages with IRPH

The Bank of Spain issued a circular in 1994 in which it called for a negative differential to be applied to mortgages with the IRPH so that their interest rate would be equal to those of the rest of the market. It has even been estimated that with this index the cost could be twice as high as with the Euribor.

This explains why this new ruling opens up the possibility that affected users may want to claim millions of euros back from the banks, which could be billions, according to some estimates.

Specifically, the CJEU now leaves it in the hands of Spanish judges to determine whether each bank applied the negative differential claimed by the Bank of Spain to make these mortgages cheaper, and also whether the information given to customers allowed them to understand this method of calculating the mortgage cost, among other aspects. In addition, Banco Santander must also demonstrate that it individually negotiated the mortgage that has given rise to the claim.