European Court wades into Spain’s mortgage crisis

European Court wades into Spain’s mortgage crisis

With a ruling that left both banks and consumers claiming victory, Europe’s highest court waded into a legal dispute in March over allegedly unfair home mortgage plans Spanish banks used during a housing boom that imploded with the 2008 financial crisis. The European Court of Justice found that clauses Spanish banks used in adjustable interest rate mortgages may have been abusive. But it stopped short of issuing a blanket rejection of the mortgages and told Spanish courts to examine them on a case-by-case basis to see if consumers clearly understood what they were signing up for. Some housing advocates called the ruling a win in their long-running campaign against banks […]