The complaints received by the Bank of Spain regarding the activity of financial entities have skyrocketed this year and most of them concern a single product: mortgage loans. This is reflected in the 2023 complaints report published by the body chaired by José Luis Escriva, which also anticipates the evolution of these complaints in the first half of 2024.
Over the whole of last year, the institution opened 33,191 files, a figure very similar to that of 2021 and 2022. It notes, however, that “an acceleration was noted in the last part of the year, which seems to continue and intensify very significantly in 2024.” Concretely, between January and June, 38,619 files were processed. “The annual figures corresponding to the previous three years would have already been beaten and they would be very close to the historic annual maximum,” he indicates. An analysis which began in 1987 and which saw a record number of claims in 2017, with more than 40,100 procedures.
If the forecasts of the Bank of Spain come true, this year there will be 55,000 or 60,000 claims, which could be almost double that of recent years.
The supervisor admits that the incidence of mortgage-related complaints, both this year and last year, is “very relevant.” This is “both from a quantitative point of view – 10,145 files, representing 30.6% of the total – and from a qualitative point of view, affecting the absolute and relative number of non-admissions”. The reason, he explains, is that “a good part of these complaints come from judgments of the Supreme Court and preliminary rulings handed down by the Court of Justice of the European Union on the nullity of the clause formalizing the mortgage loan and deadlines. for the exercise of the corresponding actions, which, without a doubt, generated expectations of compensation among the entities’ clients.”
These growing complaints are also reflected in how banks are increasing the provisions they keep on their balance sheets to deal with multimillion-dollar legal disputes over floor covenants and mortgage fees, as we explain in this topic .
They remain unresolved
These complaints regarding mortgage expenses, asserts the Bank of Spain, “have sometimes been transmitted through complaints to the Bank of Spain without properly assessing their suitability to the case, given the lack of jurisdiction in this case to rule on the question.” As a result, many of these incidents fall on deaf ears. For example, he asserts, he cannot act when the case is subjudice and a judicial resolution is pending.
The controller explains in the report that “there is a very significant number of complaints which, after analysis, prove impossible to resolve by the Bank of Spain.” In 2023 it was 61% and in the first half of this year it reached 84%, because this institution does not have powers related to action regarding mortgage expenses. Nor with complaints about fraudulent transactions with cards and transfers, which is also reflected in these percentages.
Concretely, the Bank of Spain indicates that it cannot accept complaints that must be submitted to other bodies, as in the case of market operations, which must be addressed to the CNMV; or the General Directorate of Insurance because these are, for example, pension funds. In these cases, they are referred to these organizations. The same applies to complaints regarding data protection.
“We cannot enter when there is a lack of knowledge on the part of customer service,” assumes the Bank of Spain. In other words, when you need to file a complaint, you must first contact the bank. But the majority of cases where the controller cannot act are those where he has no power, such as in the case of fraudulent transactions with credit cards, when the applicant abandons the security keys, because he has been the victim of a scam. Nor in questions related to the nullity or abuse of clauses, where the mortgage expenses are located.
The Bank of Spain explains that it can introduce complaints related to purely banking activities, but not when the nullity or abuse of clauses or fees is requested. It is also striking that plaintiffs sometimes present arguments prepared by lawyers or consumer associations. The supervisor can act on issues such as whether the provision of funds was overcharged or not properly reported, it lists.
And as for where citizens should go to claim their mortgage expenses, the Bank of Spain emphasizes that the route is judicial.
In figures, mortgages have concentrated more than 10,100 receivables, while cards have more than 9,600 and checking accounts have just over 5,000, according to the distribution of the Bank of Spain.
Entity Claims
If we consider them by entity, the banks that received the most complaints to the Bank of Spain in 2023 are Caixabank (9,474 complaints), BBVA (5,904), Santander (3,763), Unicaja (2,381) and Banco Sabadell (2,381).
And if we only see those related to mortgage contracts, the supervisor indicates which banks are above average. There are BBVA, Santander and Unicaja.
The amount returned decreases in a year, from 6 million euros to 4.76 million, which the Bank of Spain does not link to any derivative, but rather because the amounts requested are smaller.
