Two residents of Sabadell are suing Sareb, which is demanding more than 3 million euros from them for a mortgage they did not take out.

BarcelonaTwo residents of Sabadell have filed a lawsuit against Sareb —the so-called bad bank— after the entity is demanding more than three million euros from them for a mortgage they never took out, neither directly nor voluntarily. According to the lawsuit, which has already been accepted for processing, the affected parties—now deceased—never received the money they are now being asked to return. In fact, as the lawsuit explains, the loan was granted to a third party: the real estate developer Wilder Bay SL, which subsequently went into administration. From then on, the mortgage debt was subject to several financial transfers until it reached Sareb, which is now demanding repayment from the daughters of the deceased neighbors, aged 79 and 74.

But how did the two neighbors get into this situation? Let's take it step by step. In 2004, the developer Wilder Bay proposed that the affected women exchange their homes for future apartments that the developer had to build.. According to the complainants, the transaction was presented to them as an advantageous exchange, a swap in which both parties receive a value equal to or greater than what they contribute. "At first, everything seemed fine," explains Txell Alavedra, a cleaning lady from one of the affected parties, adding that everything changed when the construction was still only halfway done: "One day, the neighbors were called to the notary and told that, to finish the construction, they would need a loan." However, as Alavedra recounts, they signed a document in which the developer committed to delivering the homes free of debt. But there was a catch: the future homes of both complainants were mortgaged as collateral for a loan exceeding 6 million euros granted to the developer by the former Caixa Penedès bank. And, as the granddaughter of one of the affected neighbors explains, both were pressured into signing mortgage documents without any guidance. "The notary and the lawyers told them that if they didn't sign, they would lose their homes and be left with nothing," Alavedra recounts. The complainants, trusting the firm's lawyers, assumed a risk that wasn't theirs to bear after the developer promised to pay off the debts. The company's subsequent filing for bankruptcy in 2012 only worsened the situation: although Wilder Bay SL continued making payments on the loan for a while, it eventually stopped. Years later, Sareb is demanding the full amount of the mortgage debt from the women as if they had been the beneficiaries.

"The debt doesn't belong to us"

Now, the two affected women are suing to demand that the exchange agreement they signed be honored and that their right to receive the properties free of encumbrances be declared. They are also requesting that the Sareb loan against them be declared unenforceable. In fact, the document filed alleges serious errors and omissions in the chain of transfers and banking transactions. Specifically, while the debt has been passed between different entities in recent years, the plaintiffs have never been notified of these transactions. Following the filing of the lawsuit, the Barcelona court has already agreed to publish the proceedings in the Property Registry where their properties are registered, in order to warn anyone interested in acquiring them that the purchase could be declared null and void in the future.

Furthermore, Txell Alavedra laments the lack of transparency in the proceedings. "For all these months it has been impossible to speak with Sareb; this debt does not belong to us," she asserts. The victim's relative explains that the neighbors were "aware" of the building's outstanding debt, but says they were never warned that it could fall on them or their families: "They didn't warn us of the dangers." This week, the Sabadell City Council contacted the affected women and informed them that they will assist with mediation between Sareb and them. "There are no similar cases, much less against a bank like Sareb," she asserts. For his part, the plaintiffs' lawyer, Valeri Montseny Medalla, points out that "the case highlights a serious dysfunction in the mortgage system and the lack of real protection for individuals against large financial institutions."