Tag archives for Equity Release Spain

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL OWNERS WITH A MANCHESTER BUILDING SOCIETY (“MBS”) MORTGAGE!

Step forward for building society merger as terms agreed

If you are reading this article there is a good chance that you are among the 200 odd owners of Spanish property that took out a mortgage with Manchester Building Society, now part of Newscastle Building Society.

For years, Manchester Building Society (“MBS”) offered lifetime mortgage loans to owners of Spanish property. The facility allowed “asset rich, cash poor” property owners unlock their wealth by means of periodical drawdowns that typically, would only be repayable upon death of the borrower, within a maximum period of 12 months from the demise.

Unfortunately, MBS ran out of cash to pay property owners, all agreed instalments were halted due to a prohibition by its regulator, PRA, to grant further loans in Spain and elsewhere and left borrowers “high and dry”, still with a MBS mortgage registered against their property and thus, unable to sell it.

There is however a way out to free your property from this mortgage for good, and that solution is already available through Lawbird Legal Services. Last year, a Velez Malaga Court fully accepted executive proceedings brought by Lawbird Legal Services against MBS, on behalf of a British client, demanding full payment of the agreed loan of 300k Euro (with interest). This is in addition to the over 50 rulings won in many other courts against different equity release providers around Spain.

Now, more claims are being filed through the Courts to terminate the mortgage loans due to contractual default by MBS, on the following grounds:

  1. MBS have stopped making any further agreed payments.
  2. MBS have not given a solution to the property owners.
  3. MBS have not reviewed the existing mortgage loan proposal to adjust it to their inability to continue offering the promised cash.
  4. MBS will not address the current situation of owners that are unable to sell, offer a compromise or terminate the mortgage loan.

If you have a property and you have Manchester Building Society Lifetime Mortgage, you need to act now and take advantage of the existing favourables rulings to achieve the following:

a. Nullify the MBS mortgage loan.

b. Retain the sums received so far as compensation.

c. Remove the charge from the house.

If you are in the above situation and want to know how ERVA and their appointed lawyers can assist, call Anabel on + 34 952 86 18 90 or send her an email (info@erva.es) to schedule a free online or office meeting with the lawyers.

Dont wait any longer, acting now is better than doing it later or not doing it all, it will not cost you anything to know your options and legal rights!

…click here to read more

Pensioner wins Equity Release case against Jyske Bank and SEB LIFE International Assurance Company (previously Irish Life)!

Great news for a British pensioner who has just won his equity release case against Jyske Bank and SEB Life.

In a 20-page ruling, the judge in Court 5 of Fuengirola has determined that the equity release contract entered into by the claimant and the named defendants, through Offshore Money Managers (OMM), has to be rendered null and void due to gross miselling and violation of public policy.

According to the ruling the following happened:

All publicity communicated to the plaintiff by OMM staff revolves around the enormous benefits for a foreign pensioner with a house in Spain and without a prior mortgage, and that JYSKE BANK grants a fresh new mortgage loan and delivers the amount of the same -except for a small amount derived from the pensioner- to an investment fund previously selected by the lender. And correlatively, the disadvantage that means not doing so, given the extremely burdensome progressivity of IHT (Inheritance Tax) concluding that, if nothing is done, they could be end up paying taxes of up to 81.60% of the value of the home, or its tax base.

The judge also determined that the insurance policy did not comply with the minimum standards for it to be classed as real insurance, demanding the following:

…that the insurer assumes a certain risk, that the contract has an actuarial basis and that there is adequacy between the content of the contract and the profile of the policyholder.

The Court has now ordered the land registry to remove the mortgage loan and for SEB Insurance to refund the policy sum.

Lawbird Legal Services have been the lawyers acting for the claimant.

Málaga Appeal Court slams SLM for illegal mortgage selling.

Ver las imágenes de origen

The Málaga Appeal Court has rejected all grounds for appeal brought by SLM (Surrenda Link Mortgages) against the primary ruling by a Court of Instance in Fuengirola.

In the extensive ruling, the Courts bases its decision on 3 main arguments:

a) SLM had no authorization to sell what the judges deemed as a complex financial product made up of a mortgage loan, and a speculative investment vehicle. Not having a license to operate in Spain renders this proposition unlawful, and as such null and void ab initio.

b) The “lender” misrepresented material facts pertaining to the associated investment risks, labelling the product a safe choice to avoid inheritance tax (IHT) but also, a safe (again) bet to achieve an income. This turned out to be false.

c) SLM sold the product through a network of unqualified financial advisors, and a “selected” group of lawyers who, naturally, had zero financial investment capacitation or knowledge.

The high provincial Court rejects SLM’s attemp to fragment the product into a benign mortgage loan and the investment “arm” of the product, confirming that they could no exist without each other in the open market.

The ruling can be appealed by SLM at the Supreme Court, an appeal that would be seen as cruel, unecessary and a mere delay tactic to prevent the inevitable from happening: the invalidation of the mortgage loans on the claimants´ properties and their right to move on with their lives.

BREAKING NEWS: the BILBAO APPEAL COURT UPHOLDS THE ILLEGALITY OF THE SLM MORTGAGES

Audiencia de BizkaiaBREAKING NEWS

The Court of Appeal in Bilbao has dismissed totally the appeal launched by the SLM (Surrenda Link Mortgage) Madrid-based lawyers and upheld the first ruling of the Court of First Instance 11 in Bilbao.

SLM’s choices are to accept the ruling and not interfere in the cancellation of the mortgage loans or explore filing an exceptional appeal with the Supreme Court, a route only accepted in very specific cases.

More to follow in the next post.

Founder Member and President of ERVA celebrates Court victory over DANSKE BANK LUXEMBOURG S.A.

Image result for euan armstrong erva

Euan Armstrong, member founder and current President of ERVA, has managed to persuade a Court in Coin to dismiss loan foreclosure proceedings brought by Danske Bank International S.A. in 2010.

The victim of vicious luxembourg-based Danske Bank has fought relentlessly during 7 years to stop the lender from taking his home, after having been cheated by the bank’s staff -at one time based in Fuengirola- who sold him an Equity Release loan named as “Capital Assurance”.

In spite of being unsuccessful in 2 criminal actions, one directed to the bank’s representatives for aggravated fraud and a further one against a Coin-based Judge for negligence, the Superior Court of Justice in Granada -when dismissing the latter complaint against the Judge- deemed that Mr. Armstrong was nevertheless right in denouncing irregularities in the proceedings and observed that a fresh review of the case was necessary.

Finally, a newly-appointed Judge in Coin decided that Danske Bank’s position was untenable and threw the case out.

This ruling can be appealed (est. time 1.5 years to resolve) but it is unlikely it will be upheld.

Meanwhile, Euan is bringing new proceedings against Danske Bank International S.A. to nullify the Equity Release product and invalidate the mortgage loan.

SLM Decision Still not Official

Having the Appeal Court notified the parties that by the end of June they would have resolved the appeal to the Equity Release “Bilbao case” ruling, it is almost October and there is no official notification.

This is not unusual and should not be interpreted in any particular sense.

We eagerly and optimistically await the decision from the Court.

Pretrial hearing vs. Rothschild held in Malaga

PalacioJusticiaClaimants in the equity release CreditSelect 4-Series loan case against N.M. Rothschild & Sons and their respective lawyers held a case management hearing, or pre-trial hearing, at the Mercantile Courts in Malaga.

The hearing lasted for a about 1 hour, inclusive of a short recess demanded by the Judge to consult case law on a specific point of law.

The purpose of this meeting was to narrow the issues involved in the case, set deadlines for providing clarification documents, conducting discovery and listing the witnesses who will be attending the hearing.

Rothschild lawyers unsuccessfully attempted to adjourn the hearing on grounds that one of the claimants had passed away, a petition outright rejected by the Judge. They also tried to file the following objections:

  1. Wrong identification of the companies offering the advertising and the mortgage loans, which they claim are different (Rothschild Bank International and NM Rothschild & Sons Ltd.) The court rejected this as being a matter to be decided on passing judgement, given that she had read the merits of the case and she did not in principle agree with Rothschild’s lawyers.
  2. Claim filed out of time, which they claim had had to be filed at the very latest in 2010. This was also swiftly not attended by the Court on grounds that it would be dealt with on passing judgement.

On the part of the claimants, lawyers submitted a list of proposed witnesses for the hearing that were all accepted, inclusive of the Baron David Rothschild.

On the whole, the prevalent feeling was the Judge was sympathetic to the claimant’s arguments which is positive.

The negative note relates to the date of the trial which lawyers for claimants find totally shocking yet, unfortunately, cannot be altered: 12th of November 2019.

Claimants not part of this case are not bound by this incredibly protracted timeline and are able to file legal separate actions for miselling/misrepresentation in the -hopefully- quicker Courts of First Instance.

On a different note, a crew from France2 television were present at the event and interviewed some of the victims. They were unsuccessful in getting any responses from Rothschild’s unfriendly lawyers who do not forgive the audacious ‘ambush’ on Mr. Steve Dewsnip who, in spite of being sought after a Criminal Court in Denia, had managed to stay ‘at large’ for years, even travelling freely to Spain to assist Rothschild in their cases against victims.

 

 

Elusive Steve Dewsnip now formally indicted by Denia Court

Ever since Mr. Dewsnip turned up at a Marbella Court -15 days ago- to help his former company bash equity release pensioners seeking justice, his fortunes have been reversed. Tipped by lawyers acting for ERVA, the Marbella Judge ordered Mr. Dewsnip -who had been issued with a search warrant- to provide an address in Guernsey for notifications and further remitted the findings to the Denia Court.

The Judge presiding over this case in Denia has lost no time and ordered claimants’ solicitors to submit a list of questions that he will have to respond at the appropriate Guernsey Court. This deposition will be made via “letter rogatory”, as with Baron David de Rothschild.

Marbella Court orders Stephen Dewsnip to give an address for summons

Steve Dewsnip has been formally ordered by the Marbella Courts to provide an address for summons, as petitioned by a Denia Court via a Search Warrant.

Mr. Dewsnip, who is ‘disappeared’ for the Denia Court where proceedings are currently underway against himself, Baron David de Rothschild and Mark Coutanche, is nonetheless alive and contactable when required to turn up in Marbella to testify tin favour of his old bosses, N.M. Rothschild & Sons, on other cases brought against the latter company.

As it happens, lawyers acting for ERVA turned up at the Marbella Court and requested the Guardia Civil, whom were handed  the document that is currently visible on this site, to warn the Judge -presiding over a case brought by victims of Rothschild- that Mr. Dewsnip was listed as a witness for the Guernsey-based bank.

So what exactly happened later is uncertain, as ERVA lawyers were not present, but it appears that when Mr. Dewsnip went in to the Court the Judge asked him not to leave straight after finishing his deposition as he had to be notified of a summons from a criminal Court.

Rothschild lawyers were needless to say outraged and were looking for those to blame for what they deemed underhand and disloyal tactics.

Meanwhile, we are eagerly waiting for news on Mr. Rothschild interrogation at the appropriate French Courts.

Rothschild case: Denia Court sends letter rogatory to Paris

Denia Court  1 has now received the translations from the Benidorm Translation Services Office and ordered a letter rogatory to be sent to the Paris appropriate judicial office. The letter of request obviously includes a petition that Baron David de Rothschild answers the questions submitted by the various lawyers.

The Court decision can be said to be an official judicial decision to formally interrogate Mr. Rothschild in the Court of his domicile.

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