Nykredit in Spain, with offices in Marbella (Centro Comercial Plaza), could see all of its Spanish loans declared void by the Courts.

The reason is no other than the appalling wording of many clauses of their standard Spanish mortgage loan contract, notably the “applicable interest rate” clause.

This extraodinary discovery happened when lawyers acting for a victim of Nykredit’s nefarious Marbella branch, who had been served with a foreclosure Court claim, analysed with a fine-tooth comb the wording of the loan contract…only to conclude that it was impossible to establish which rates were applicable and crucially, what was the total sum owed when repossession proceedings got underway.

Lawyers have concluded, following 48 hours of collective ‘brainstorming’, that it is not possible to arrive at a discernible figure on the above concepts.

Now let’s see how Nykredit’s clever Danish lawyers worded the diverse formulas used by the bank to charge interest and calculate outstanding balances:

The value as certified by the Copenhaguen Stock Exchange.

In case of disappearance of the above, the value certified by any other Public Administrative Body.

The “market” value.

The market value paid by Nykredit for the “underlying bonds”.

An amount that could be, in any event, different from the “OBL RESTGAELD” debt.

The value of bonds issued under code “ISIN”.

A formula totally different from the above, in case Nykredit decided to use the prerrogative given to itself of not “taking the above into consideration”.

Quite!

Startled borrowers have stated that if the mortgage loan had been left in Danish language, they would have stood a better chance of grasping something.

In addition to this bungle but as a consequence of the above, NYKREDIT’s Alicante-based lawyers made a total mess in their Court repossession paperwork when, in a futile attempt to cheat the Courts (and their customers), attached the obligatory Outstanding Balance Statement without reflecting the mandatory calculations, without the Notary Public certifying those (when the melon was supposed to ensure the Statement was consistent with the wording of the loan contract clauses, article 218 of the “Reglamento Notarial”) and worst of all, forgetting to legalize the signature of the person ratifying the Statement (a Sussie Nyholm, who at the time happened to be in Denmark, or just as always be believe because she lives there…).

And to cap it all, as for applicable law, Nykredit expressly noted the following:

This loan will be subject to Spanish laws and Courts.

Should the Courts declare void the above 2 clauses in the loan contract, by application of Spanish Consumer laws and notably, the recent 2013 European Court of Justice ruling, the following could happen:

• Foreclosure proceedings are set aside, with costs (circa €70k).
• Only some clauses are declared void, forcing Nykredit to instigate repayment in normal declaratory proceedings where, unbeknown to the lender, a 50-page claim has been lodged against them and their sidekick, Sydbank, for running an illegal Equity Release scheme.
• The mortgage loan is declared void, with unknown legal consequences.
• The entire Nykredit loan book in Spain, Equity Release or not, face the threat of having their legality challenged in Courts.