OTP, Raiffeisen, Takarekbank refile cases on loan contracts rejected by court
(MTI) – Cases brought to court by OTP Bank in defense of unilateral changes to loan contracts have been rejected for formal reasons, but are being re-submitted in modified form, the lender told MTI on Tuesday.
The cases of OTP Bank, OTP Mortgage Bank, OTP leasing unit Merkantil Bank and OTP Real Estate Leasing were rejected by the court. The dates for the hearings in these cases are not yet known, the bank said.
OTP Bank said that their lending activity had been in line with the relevant laws. The bank is also expected to turn to the constitutional court as it regards the law on compensating clients as unconsitutional.
The Budapest Regional Court on Tuesday turned down Raiffeisen Leasing’s motion to turn to the constitutional court and to the European Court.
The court adjourned a hearing without ruling today to September 9 and 10 in the case submitted by Takarekbank and Raiffeisen Leasing, respectively.
The legal representative of Takarekbank at the hearing presented a list of bank products, with conditions changed for specific periods, which it would like to be considered for fairness by the court. The attorney argued that the laws had fundamentally changed since 2004.
The legal representative of the state at the hearing said that unilateral changes made by the bank, in particular concerning contract fees, had been vague and conditions were ambiguous for the customer.
Under legislation approved in the summer, Hungarian lenders must compensate clients for unilateral changes to contracts unless they can successfully defend the practice in court.
A total of 79 lenders have turned to the court on the matter. The court rejected 24 of the cases without holding a hearing, but six of these lenders re-submitted them.
Photo: MTI – Tibor Illyes
Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters
