Citizens are suing banks in droves – alo.rs

In Serbia, the courts are overwhelmed with lawsuits against banks for payment of loan processing fees and, according to unofficial data, there are more than 30,000 such lawsuits in court. Several thousand have already spoken in favor of clients.

Citizens are suing and demanding a refund of the loan processing fee. They believe that according to the Law of Obligations, a bank can have interest as the only salary, but that the client does not know what he is really paying even with full interest.

Ivana Josifović, from the Association of Judges and Prosecutors, states that, considering that the bank, as defendant, did not prove what the costs were, the court concluded that these costs were not realistically determined.

Did you have credit problems?

– Therefore, the provision of the contract by which the client is obliged to do so is indefinite or indeterminate for him, which makes it null and void – explains Josifović for RTS.

Dejan Gavrilović of the consumer association “Efektiva” claims that banks took up to 15 percent of the approved loan for loan processing costs.

– We have seen in practice that these percentages range from one to 15 percent of the approved loan. The percentage is generally lower with larger loans, that is, home loans, and the highest percentage was with smaller quick and cash loans, Gavrilović says.

He also points out that there are banks that have contracted and charged the costs of processing the loan in a fixed amount.

– They approve 100,000 and take 12,000 for the loan processing costs – adds Gavrilović.

Unlike the court, which refers to the Law of Obligations, the National Bank says that the Law of Banks regulates the work of banks.

– Banks have the right to charge loan processing costs, but must inform citizens about all elements of the contract and the risks. When approving loans, loan processing costs must be equal in proportion to the effort invested, according to the NBS public service.

What if …

– If clients have lost the original documentation related to the loans, it will be difficult for them to get copies from the bank, although they have the right to do so.
– If they win the dispute and the bank has failed in the meantime, they will wait for the liquidation of the bankruptcy estate.
– If the bank is sold, the court will ask the new owner for compensation.

Relocation of ordinary court claims

The Association of Judges and Prosecutors proposes that the lawsuits for illegal collection of fees be withdrawn from the ordinary courts and resolved out of court. They say that it is also useful for banks, because they obviously lose disputes and all costs will fall on your account.

– First, the state gets satisfied citizens, frees courts, gets a quality and all other cases tried in a reasonable time and leaves, that is, avoids obvious and determined costs for damages due to trials outside a reasonable time – Josifović points out.