Courts overworked and overwhelmed with 'cláusula suelo' cases

(Photo: lavozdigital.es)

CÁDIZ There are so many cases regarding the cláusula suelo mortgage contract scandal at the only Juzgado de lo Mercantil (Commercial Court) in the provincial capital that the judge has turned to the press to complain that she and her staff are overwhelmed. It isn't just the 80 cláusula suelo cases that came in in a single alone, though, that have brought things to standstill. Judge Mª Castillo Mendaro Durantes works without any other judge to help her - and that is the systemic problem with the Spanish judiciary. Castillo Mendaro expects a substitute judge to be named in September, not because she intends to leave but because substitute judges are also assigned to help sitting magistrates, as well as to replace them.>>>

Defining 'cláusula suelo' - what to do about it and getting your money back

Reading the small print

SPAIN The two words have been much in the media recently, not least because the clauses in a mortgage contract have largely been qualified as abusive banking practice by the Supreme Court. Cláusula, of course, means clause; suelo means floor - floor rate clauses, in other words. There is also something called cláusula techo, which means a roof clause, though better understood as ceiling. That's the top and bottom of the definition. But what do they mean, and are there similar clauses in mortgage contracts in other countries? It is sometimes known in English-speaking countries as the base rate clause, but that could be confusing as the translation is used for other unrelated things too. Another possible translation is 'minimum interest rate' - you get the idea. Let's make it simple: When a mortgage contract is signed, a series of conditions are established that will last until the end of the contract - which is of course why we are always told to read the small print, so as to avoid later surprises.>>>