BCR, forced by the courts to reimburse the fees it collected abusively

• The bank will have to pay 1 million lei to its customers

• BCR: "It is abnormal to implement the ruling of the trial court, considering that not all avenues of appeal have been exhausted"

• Gheorghe Piperea: "Banks aren't the only ones to foreclose, customers can foreclose on banks as well"

The Court of District 3 of Bucharest has rejected the challenge of the Romanian Commercial Bank (BCR), as part of a collective lawsuit with 131 clients, by which the bank requested the suspension of the ruling to foreclose previously rendered by the Court.

Following the ruling, BCR is under foreclosure and required to repay 1 million lei to its customers, on account of the loan contracts which were declared abusive, said Gheorghe Piperea, the lawyer representing the customers.

Gheorghe Piperea: "Not only banks foreclose, clients can foreclose as well. The bank tried to stop the foreclosure by filing several challenges. The costs of the lawsuits of the banks affect its customers and employees".

Paul Cristian Lospa, a lawyer at "Piperea&Asociaţii", said that the accounts of BCR have been garnished, but the measure has been temporarily suspended, after the filing of the challenge on enforcement by BCR, but now that the latter has been denied, the garnishment of the bank's accounts will be reinstated, he said.

BCR considers that it would be abnormal for it to implement the ruling of the court, considering the fact that not all avenues of attack in the lawsuit have been exhausted.

The representatives of the bank said: "The decision of the court of first instance was unfavorable to the bank and was enforceable. We will appeal the ruling of the trial court in the Court of Appeal and, if we fail, we will go to the High Court of Cassation and Justice.

Also, we have filed a distinct challenge against the enforcement decision, because we feel that it is abnormal to comply with the ruling of the trial court, given the fact that the means of appeal have not been exhausted (there are two more courts that have not yet ruled on the case)".

BCR officials said that so far, the higher courts ruled in favor of the bank, in spite of the ruling of the first instance.

"The High Court of Cassation and Justice (ICCJ) has only ruled in favor of BCR so far, in all the cases which reached the ICCJ".

Considering that the challenge on enforcement has been denied, the bank's accounts will be debited according to the ruling of the trial court, bank officials said.

In the first nine months of the year, BCR had a net loss of 762.5 million lei (172.1 million Euros), amid record provisions, whereas in the same period of last year it had a net profit of 67.6 million lei (16.1 million Euros).