Court Declares Rusfinance Bank’s Loan Agreement Invalid

29 June 2012 (09:15)

A Yekaterinburg dweller appealed to Sverdlovsk Region Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology, asking for legal advice on a clash she had with Rusfinance Bank, Sverdlovsk Region division of Rospotrebnadzor reports.

Her loan agreement provided for a monthly fee for the servicing of the loan account (1.7% of the total sum, or 15,000 RUR, or 2,550 RUR a month). Given that the loan period came to 36 months, the fees would total to 91,800 RUR altogether.

Experts from the center helped the woman prepare a complaint to the bank that demanded that terms infringing on the consumer’s rights be eliminated from the agreement and that the fees already paid be compensated for.

The complaint was sent to the bank’s Yekaterinburg branch, where the contract had been signed, and to the company’s official residence address in Samara, but no reply followed.

The experts then prepared a claim to be placed with Yekaterinburg district court, and the plaintiff agreed to have the case transferred to Leninsky District Court in Samara (as there is a Rusfinance Bank’s office in Samara).

The court ruled that as the loan accounts are not bank accounts and are only used for indication and payment of debt, the servicing of such an account cannot be charged for as a separate banking service.

The court declared the terms of the agreement relating to the 1.7% monthly fee invalid and ruled that Rusfinance Bank should pay the customer 68,850 RUR (the commission that had already been paid by the time the case got to court). What is more, the bank had to pay a commission for using another party’s money (6,325 RUR) and 500 RUR for moral damage.

The bank also had to refund the plaintiff for legal expenses (2,375 RUR) and to pay a fine to Samara budget for refusing to meet the customer’s demands voluntarily.


Other materials on the topic::