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Diego Echavarria – Founding Partner – Fairway Lawyers Costa del Sol

Fairway Lawyers’ founding partner Diego Echavarria regularly writes articles for English-speaking media in Spain

British expats forced to leave Spain – ‘don’t feel confident’ with new Brexit rules

By ESTHER MARSHALL – www.express.co.uk Diego Echavarria is an expert in Spanish residency law. He is the founding partner of Fairway Lawyers on the Costa del Sol and spoke to Express.co.uk about British expats in Spain. He told Express.co.uk that one of his clients was asked to leave Spain in 72 hours after she struggled to prove she had residency. He said: “I had a case where someone who is a citizen in Spain couldn’t justify it. They gave her 72 hours to leave the country. “She was able to prove that she had residency so she was fine but I don’t know what’s going to happen to other people […]

Oct 14

Spain rejects 2,000 residency applications after Brexit – these are the most common reasons

Many Britons wish to retire in the Mediterranean country, looking for sun, warm weather and delicious food. This year, however, many UK nationals who applied for Spanish residency under the Withdrawal Agreement had their applications rejected. Many even received notices saying they had to leave the country within 15 days or they could be classified as illegal. Why? According to recent data by the EU’s Specialised Committee on Citizens’ Rights, Spanish authorities received 168,700 applications for residency in September 2021. Out of these, 141,700 have now been concluded. According to the report, 81,200 applications were approved for permanent residence, meaning it was granted to those Britons who had been living in Spain […]

Sep 25

Olive Press newspaper interview with Diego Echavarria

Olive Press reporter Katherine Brook sat down with one of Spain’s best lawyers, Diego Echavarria, to discuss how he’s helped over 50 people who were victims of the floor clause claim back hundreds of thousands of pounds, as well as what problems Brits are currently facing in the country. Tell us a bit about yourself Diego? I was brought up in Madrid, which is where I studied to become a lawyer, splitting my time between there and Germany. I moved to Marbella in 2001 and then set up my own company, Fairway Lawyers, in 2006. Why Marbella? I specialise in being an English speaking lawyer, and Marbella’s a great place […]

May 01

Residency in Spain for UK nationals: Can a lawyer fix application problems and speed up the process?

Diego Echavarria of Fairway Lawyers in Marbella has recently been interviewed by The Local Spain after several of their British readers have contacted them to say they’re having problems getting their residency in Spain, and questioning why there are so many delays. The reporter spoke to several lawyers to find out what most the common residency issues are, how to correct them and why getting legal help might speed up the process. Gerard Martínez from Balcells Group in Barcelona explained to The Local that the vast majority of residency problems they are seeing now involve foreigners not knowing the best path to residency and not being sure about what their options are. Most […]

Apr 24

How to buy a home in Spain as a foreigner

By www.thedeliciousday.com Diego Echavarría has practised real estate and immigration law in Malaga and throughout Andalucía for 20 years. I chatted with him via Zoom to learn the ins and outs of home buying in Spain for foreigners and why a real estate attorney is an absolute must. Here is a little of what he had to say… Why is a lawyer required when buying a home in Spain? Basically, you always need an attorney when you’re a foreign person investing in Spain. There are a lot of legal requirements and issues that most people do not know about. Lawyers check if the property has any debts and if the mortgages have […]

Feb 13

Do you have a mortgage in Spain? Take our two-minute test to see if you’re owed money by your lender

Forget the coronavirus… there is something almost as bad for many homeowners in Spain. Let’s call it the BANKING PANDEMIA, or the Floor Clause illness, also known as the ‘Clausula Suelo’ or ‘Suelo Hipotecario’. This was simply a clause that was inserted into variable rate mortgage agreements in Spain during the last 20 years that affects the interest rate payable on the mortgage. And it means that mortgage holders are being conned and do not benefit from the fall in the EURIBOR as there will be a minimum rate of interest payable on the mortgage (this floor, also known as a ‘suelo’ is often 3- 4% depending on the bank). […]

Nov 12

Expat buyers in Spain are scooping €50,000 and more after Fairway Lawyers crack compensation route in floor clause mortgages

‘ABUSIVE’ MORTGAGE FLOOR CLAUSES SPAIN: Are you entitled to compensation plus interest – even if you have sold your property and paid off the mortgage? They had taken out the mortgage through Bankia in 2004. The villa in Mojacar, Almeria, was the home they had always dreamed of buying for their regular trips south for the weather. With its sizable garden and sea views, it was the perfect place to unwind during the hard winters of northern England. But the Thompsons, like so many buyers who took out mortgages in the happy days between 2002 and 2009, soon found out that their mortgage was not fairly setup. While initially the […]

Oct 20

Decision day for the one million floor clause mortgages in Spain that may have paid an average of €25,000 too much

This week, finally, Spain’s Supreme Court will rule on mortgages that were linked to an IRPH rate, more than six months after Europe left it to the Spanish judges to rule on their legality or lack of transparency. While the standard Euribor rate has been negative since February 2016, the mortgages linked to the IRPH have been paying interest at around 2%. It is estimated that the average cost of overpaid interest payments to these clients could be around 25,000 euros each. The Supreme Court validated the use of the IRPH in 2017, but Court number 38 of Barcelona raised a preliminary question to Europe to enquire about the control […]

Oct 19

Do you have a mortgage in Spain? Find out if you are owed money by your bank…

‘Abusive’ IRPH floor clause mortgages in Spain: A Costa del Sol court ruling obliges the banks to return everything overcharged – before the national Supreme Court rules on the matter. A judgment of the Provincial Court of Malaga has declared the IRPH mortgage rate null for ‘lack of transparency’, replace it with Euribor and orders the banks to refund the difference between the cancelled rate and the new one plus interest. The recent ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding the IRPH rate mortgages in Spain is so clear that many provincial courts and hearings have decided not to wait for the Supreme Court to […]

Oct 11

Door opened for a million mortgages in Spain on ‘abusive’ IRPH rate to be cancelled

One of the top legal advisers in the European Union has said that about one million mortgages sold in Spain on a different type of rate to the standard Euribor can be subject to judicial review. The rate being questioned is known as the IRPH (mortgage loan reference index) and is an alternative offered to customers of banks when buying their property. It is a national average of the cost of mortgages over a period up to three years, meaning it is less variable than the standard Euribor. However, homeowners complain that while Euribor rates plummeted in recent years, the different way of calculating IRPH keeps their loans higher. Many […]

I would like to say how delighted I am with service I received from Fairway Lawyers. I found them to be very helpful, professional and very easy to talk to. I employed the services of Fairway Lawyers to start and register my new SL company. They dealt with every matter on my behalf and kept me well informed throughout the process, via telephone and email.

A. Mortimer (Clean Getaway SL)

When we engaged you we had been informed that you are specialists in real estate transactions, which proved to be essential, but we were not expecting that you would also help us earn more from the sale than we had anticipated.

Brandon Ahearn, Lawyer in Lugano

I would like to thank your lawyer Diego Echavarria for the very professional manner in which he handled my recent action to recover monies owed to me. It was a difficult case and he clarified in advance all the legal processes he had to undertake on my behalf. He kept me abreast of progress throughout, and thanks to his efforts we reached a successful conclusion.

Simone Lilley, Estepona

Just to let you know that Daisy now has her health card and an official letter from the Spanish health service saying she is entitled to the same health benefits as she got in the UK, so finally all has ended well. Daisy and I thank you so much for all your efforts in getting this matter sorted for us. It is all such a relief.

Edward and Daisy