Swiss franc loans are known to frustrate borrowers following the change that occurred in the exchange rate, as well as, for the time being, negative court orders in Greece.
While cold numbers have their own rules, the mediation process helps highlight the human element in cases of loan debts. The preparation of the mediation is crucial to the success of the outcome, taking into account that during the procedure many different parties need to be coordinated in terms of sense and sensibility. The process can therefore be extremely tiring, time-consuming but also important and effective, as it is the result that counts.
This represents the basic principle of Anna Korsanou’s mediation office and this is why all the mediations she has undertaken have produced fruitful results. Responsibility, honesty, thorough planning, immediacy, close cooperation and constant communication with the borrower, provision of clear information, flexibility in the coordination of different parties preparing and participating in the mediation, proper handling of situations occurring during the procedure (let’s not forget that, for better or for worse, the Bank is the most powerful party) contribute to successful mediation results.
In this mediation the borrowers were a mother 70 and a daughter 45 years old. They had three loans at Eurobank,Bank (a greek bank) currently transferred, one in euro and two in Swiss franc. Both of them filed a lawsuit with “Katseli” Law (a law who helped people to erase debts under certain conditions after a trial) , in cooperation with a different law firm, receiving a negative response from the court, while at the same time payment orders had already been issued against them. The family had to face serious health problems and unemployment. The borrowers visited Anna Korsanou’s office in order to be informed on what would be the best solution to their problem. We recommended the Bank Mediation.
The Mediation took months to prepare, with the two parties exchanging financial documents. You should pay attention! The handling and regulation of loan cases, as well as bank mediations, has become extremely difficult. In order to set a mediation date there were many issues to resolve and such date was finally set in the presence of the borrowers, their lawyer, the Bank’s representatives and lawyer and Anna Korsanou, as the accredited mediator.
The mediation process lasted many hours with common as well as separate meetings being conducted between the parties. The borrowers presented their financial situation and capacity and although initially the two parties were not close to an agreement, the mediation led to a lasting and viable solution for the borrowers which provided for a monthly installment based on their capacity and a partial write-off of the loan at an extremely low interest rate.
In order for this solution to be achieved there were months of negotiations between the specialized executives and the competent department of the bank from one part and the borrowers’ experienced and qualified mediator and lawyer on the other, as well as long-lasting discussions, before an arrangement was finally achieved. It must be noted that such mediation processes are being conducted by the bank’s competent department, this being a new, extremely important procedure, and that, to our surprise, there are bank executive officers who are not even aware of the procedure, failing to provide proper information to the borrowers.
Many borrowers spent years of frustration. Especially those who appealed to” Katseli’s law” may have lost up to a decade waiting for their case to be dealt with and the relevant order to be issued, not to mention that many of the applications were rejected and even appeals gave no results. Unfortunately, bad circumstances, wrong decisions, recruitment of incompetent consultants or partners in handling such cases, rejection of judicial appeals, additional problems or health issues that may have arisen during this time result in borrowers facing auctions that even concern their primary residence. In view of these situations, bank mediation is an appropriate solution that can lead to a positive outcome for the borrowers.
