Archives for May, 2017

Bilbao Appeal Court to deliver a decision on 17/6/2017

Iberdrola y ACS se enfrentarán a partir del 18 de enero en un juicio en Bilbao

A decision by the The Appeal Court in Bilbao in respect to the nullity and voidness of the SLM mortgages has been announced for the 17th of June 2017, a record time by regular Court standards. For this reason, the Court of First Instance has  halted enforcement proceedings given the closeness of this date.

The date of the ruling rarely coincide with it being made public, and it can take weeks for lawyers to be formally notified.

This will announce the verdict as soon as it is received.

Bilbao Court Issues Broad Enforcement Proceedings Against Surrenda Link Mortgage Funding

Iberdrola y ACS se enfrentarán a partir del 18 de enero en un juicio en Bilbao

Court of First Instance 11 in Bilbao has accepted a motion by claimants to enforce proceedings against SLM and ordered the following:

  • The freezing of assets owned by SLM to cover as much as 6,262,574 Euros, plus legal interest.
  • The cancellation of mortgages registered in favour of SLM on the properties owed by the claimants, by ordering the Land Registries of Alora, Mijas, Javea, San Roque, Estepona, Coin, Velez-Malaga and Marbella to remove same.
  • The annotation of the Court ruling in the indicated land registries.

This groundbreaking Equity Release ruling applies in full art. 1306 of the Civil Code (reserved for serious law breaches and violations of public order) and orders the defendant SLM to not only suffer losing the rights of a registered mortgage but, in addition, to pay the claimants the loan that was withheld to invest with Premier Group Isle of Man (now in liquidation).

SLM does not have the right to appeal but can oppose this decision, within 5 days.

The above decisions are adopted provisionally, pending the outcome of the appeal process. As with most rulings, claimants are by law entitled to enjoy the result of a favourable ruling on the understanding that, should the ruling be reversed on appeal, the successful appellant may request a restitution of the gains received.

Currently, only 20% of rulings are overturned by Appeal Courts.

Rothschild Loses Equity Release Case in Spanish Courts

Image result for N.M. rothschild and sons

International Property Finance Spain Limited (“IPFSL”), an unregulated corporate ramification of sinister N.M. Rothschild & Sons, is the next entity on the long list of Equity Release providers whose contracts have been declared null and void by Spanish Courts.

In a very elaborate recent ruling, the Courts have found in respect to Rothschild and IPFSL that their allegations cannot be upheld, for the following reasons:

  • The Credit Select Series 4 loan is a leveraged product classified as complex, for it is always used to invest in the financial markets. The loan is always linked to an investment that is pledged on behalf of the lender.
  • This product was presented as a means to avoid the devastating effects of the Spanish Inheritance Tax, presented as a voracious levy, by mitigating or even neutralizing its consequences.
  • The Credit Select Series 4 loan, sold through Hamiltons Financial Services, was offered by Rothschild -presenting itself as originating in a family of prestigious aristocratic lineage and noble descent- and meant the remedy for the very concerning issue of the Spanish Inheritance Tax.
  • Hamiltons Financial Services intervened as intermediary and advisor, always on behalf of International Property Finance Spain Limited who in turn, operated as an Investment Services Company (ESI) on behalf of Rothschild. This conclusion is arrived at -despite not being any contract linking both companies- because whether contractually linked or being a free agent, the actions of Hamiltons fully benefited IPFSL, who also did not oppose such actions.
  • The Credit Select Series 4 loan is declared null and void as a result of the customers not being properly informed of the risks, the product not being suitable on the basis of their age, financial expertise and objectives and more importantly, being misrepresented in respect to the confiscatory nature of the Spanish IHT and the “antidote” offered by this product in addition to the empty promise that the investment would generate enough to pay for the loan.

Concluding, the Court orders the cancellation of the mortgage loan signed with the defendant IPFLS and orders the claimants to return the advance payment received.

(acting for the claimants in this case was solicitor Salvador Martinez Echeverría).

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