BRITISH homeowners are winning up to €48,500 in compensation after major banks in Spain were exposed for putting a hidden clause in their mortgages. In the early 2000s a string of lenders secretly wrote in their contracts that their clients’ payable interest rate could not drop below 3.5% – in what is now known as a ‘floor clause’. But for 10 years, between 2011 and 2021, the interest rate in Spain sat between 0-1%. It means countless homeowners spent years paying hundreds of euros more per month than necessary. Fairway Lawyers, based in Marbella, has been at the forefront of winning back money for affected homeowners – and on a […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]