Spain's Century-Old Mortgage Law Calls For Change From Evicted Homeowners

Spain's weak economy and worsening housing crisis has forced many families into the streets and even drawn people to suicide.  Last week, thousands of Spaniards from 50 cities protested to the streets to battle forced evictions as a result of a 100-year-old eviction law, reported Reuters.

Nearly 1.5 million signatures were put on a petition to change the current mortgage law and have the parliament cancel the mortgage debt when homes are returned to the bank. 

The current law calls for a complete repayment of debt even after the home has been repossessed  Forty billion euros have already been pumped into Spain banks as part of the bail out. The banks forced residents facing mortgage defaults out of homes and argue that if the law eases restrictions, many borrowers would lose incentive to maintain mortgage payments. 

According to Euro News, 400,000 Spaniards were given eviction notices since 2008 and the money borrowed makes up 70 percent of household debt in the country today. 

"The foreclosure process here is very tough," said Jose Garcia Montalvo, an economics professor at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, in an interview with Reuters. "The law is brutally clear and it's not interpretable case by case."

One unemployed 36-year-old man named Francisco Lema built his home that had to be repossessed. He was left with 22,000 euros, or $29,000, in debt. Lema who has a wife and 8-year-old daughter, struggled to repay and earlier this month his lifeless body was found outside their fourth-floor rental building. 

The police spokeswoman determined it was a suicide after a witness said Lema jumped off the balcony, reported Reuters.

The protests led by lawyers, activists and political opponents are denouncing forced evictions and claim the government is not doing enough to protect consumers because the law violates a homeowner's chance to legally argue an eviction in court until after they're thrown out of their home.

"The mortgage law is missing a social dimension," said Fernando de Rosa, a conservative judge, in an interview with Reuters. "It's too strict in the relationship between the bank and the borrower."