Mortgage your house, but do not put at risk your rights.
If you are resident in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway, the European legislation establishes basic consumer rights for when you apply for credit, when you open a bank account, make a transfer or take out insurance. Before signing your mortgage with your bank, make sure you know your rights.
Mortgage loans are a service offered by banks, real estate credit entities, and other loan societies, and are usually guaranteed by the real estate property itself. These loans normally have a lower interest rate and longer repayment period in comparison to consumer credit. Nevertheless, if you do not meet your repayment terms and your mortgage has been guaranteed by your property, the lending institutions may seize the property and resell your house to settle the loan. In any case, the banks are at liberty to accept or reject your mortgage application. However, it is important that you are aware that you may obtain a mortgage from an entity whose head office is in another EU country (in this case, the 28 Member States of the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway); although the country in which you reside, work or in which the property is found may influence the way in which your application is assessed by the lending institution.
If you consider that a bank has engaged in discrimination against you, you may:
In accordance with EU regulations, the lending institution or credit broker must offer you a minimum period of seven days in which to study the offer. National legislation in some EU countries may grant longer time periods.
Depending on the country in which you apply for the loan, you may have:
Credit life insurance comes into play if you have to deal with circumstances which prevent you from repaying the loan (death, illness or loss of employment).
You may be offered a policy together with the mortgage loan contract, but it must never be a condition to obtaining the loan.
You will always be at liberty to look for better conditions in other insurance companies, as long as the level of cover offered by the different policies is equivalent to that offered by the lending institution.
The bank may, nevertheless, oblige you to open a current or savings account with them, through which you should pay the loan.
European legislation
Spanish legislation. Laws