The High Court of Justice of the European Union rules in favour of the retroactivity of the mortgage floor clause. Thus, the thousands of people affected will recover the money paid in excess from the date they signed the mortgage loan plus the corresponding legal interest.

With this ruling, contrary to the opinion expressed by the Advocate General of the CJEU last July, the door is open for thousands of people affected to recover all the money they have over paid.

It is estimated that, by applying the retroactive application of the mortgage floor clause, banks will have to return between 5,000 and 7,500 million euros to those affected.

This ruling offers a similar argument to that already accepted by some Spanish courts. Thus, in Seville, the legal grounds provided by Bufete Salmerón were favourably received by the judges. In fact, the Commercial Court No. 1 ruled in favour of the retroactivity of the mortgage floor clause, a fact that, due to its social significance, was picked up by the media.

Undoubtedly, the news is being very well received by thousands of Spanish mortgage holders, including those who have reached agreements with financial institutions to reduce or eliminate the floor clause. In fact, the courts have already ruled on more than one occasion that these agreements are not valid.

However, once again our advice to those who have a mortgage with or without a floor clause, is to have their contracts reviewed by specialised lawyers. The reason is that the introduction of abusive clauses by banks has not been limited to the floor clause, but has gone further by, for example, introducing the obligation of the consumer to pay the mortgage arrangement fees or the stamp duty. In both cases, the consumer can also claim against the bank.