More than 30,000 families in Spain are currently affected by multi-currency mortgages, an extreme risk product, which was commercialised with particular intensity between 2004 and 2008, a period when the constant rise in value of the euro opened up the opportunity of profiting from those advantageous conditions for acquiring other currencies, which meant affordable mortgage rates. That provided the bank with the perfect excuse to grant mortgages for unreasonably large sums.
Unfortunately, the clients were not informed of the enormous risk of contracting a mortgage in a currency with no control of the fluctuations in the exchange rate that could alter its value, as happened with the later depreciation of the euro. Nor were they told that should the euro lose value against the reference currency not only would our monthly payment increase exponentially but the devaluation would also apply to the capital remaining to be paid off.
The lack of clarity, precision and transparency in the information supplied by the entities about the risks of the product are sufficient cause to demand the nullity of those mortgages, as acknowledged by the numerous sentences obtained by Col·lectiu Ronda.