Equity Release Fiasco: Gathering in Malaga on 09-04-2012
As many of you already know, the ERVA has organized a gathering at the Malaga Tax Office (Avenida de Andalucía number 2, next to El Corte Inglés), Monday the 9th of April 11.30 a.m. (if wish to arrive earlier we will meet in front of El Corte Inglés at 11 a.m.), with the purpose of submitting a tax “denuncia” against the Equity Release banks.
The main aim of this action is to make the Spanish Tax Authorities aware that their Danish counterpart, the Danish Tax Authority (SKAT), as well as the Danish Ministry of Taxation, have already labeled these schemes as fraudulent and started an investigation.
The form below should ideally be printed and filled out by hand, in block capitals, so that it has a more personal touch than a form that only has an original signature. The denunciations will be grouped and Lawbird will attach relevant contractual and marketing documentation we already have, classified by banks.
If you are not able to print and fill out don’t worry, we will take forms that can be filled out there and then.
We will require from you, if at all possible, a copy of the mortgage loan signed with the denounced bank. Failing this, a copy of a “nota simple” showing the mortgage loan registered against it. If you are not able to obtain this, so long as the property details are recorded on the form, we will proceed with filing, and at a later date we will submit the paperwork that is missing.
Also, please bring your passport and a copy.
We expect the Tax office to start an investigation into the activities of the banks because of the fraudulent nature of the proposal, and the loss of revenue as a result. We must not forget that it is almost certain that the tax evasion element of such products has already materialized in some cases, if we consider that hundreds of owners would have been deceived into signing up these products and a few, sadly, are likely to have passed away, some probably due to the enormous stress caused by the actions of the thieving banks.
Please note that this is an important gathering: from the point of the claimant, it is the start of the civil action against the bank in question since obtaining an opinion from the Tax Office is crucial in destroying the validity of the contracts, and from the point of view of the bank, it is the formal communication to the Tax Office of an ill-conceived scheme devised in conjunction with unethical unregistered IFAs, that openly invited customers to violate fiscal laws in Spain (and elsewhere too).
Should there be any change between now and Monday, we will advise by email and also, by publication on the ERVA forum.
Documents
- Denunciation Form (PDF – 170 kb)
I am also a victim of this equity release scheme. The bank is in Gibraltar and has no legal representation here in Spain. I have been told that then there is not much I can do. Is that so?
Hello Hendrika,
That is what the bank would want, that nothing could be done. If the bank you mention is in Gibraltar then, in all probability, we are talking about Jyske.
Jyske extensively used a network of unregulated IFAs to capture business in Spain, on the excuse that it would alleviate horrific Death Duties and provide an income stream.
If it was another bank, most certainly they would have used a similar modus operandi to further their illicit activities.
Under Spanish laws, what you sign does not always have a legally binding force, particularly if you were cajoled into signing by deceipt, which in principle makes a contract voidable, by virtue of applying the rules of vice of consent. In this case, error and deceipt are responsible for such error.
But also you have a situation where, if you sign a contract to defraud the Spanish Tax Authorities, the contract becomes automically null and void pursuant to article 6 of the Spanish Civil Code (contracts that pursue illicit objectives).
I therefore strongly recommend you that you do not throw in because it is only through legal action and sustained pressure that banks will undo these contracts that, privately, they admit to being fraudulent.