The premise of consumer protection legislation is the inequality of the parties. This legislation is intended to introduce real balance in the relations between the parties, rather than formal balance. In practice, framework contracts, unfair terms, and non-transparent mechanisms have caused serious imbalances in the assets of many people—and the example of Swiss franc loans has remained a harsh lesson for many Romanians.
We help clients prevent conflicts through contract analysis and advice before signing, and we represent them before professionals (banks, non-bank financial institutions, developers, service providers), the National Authority for Consumer Protection (ANPC), and the courts to identify unfair terms, obtain refunds and compensation, and put an end to unfair practices.
180+
Consumer claims and defenses handled
50+
Regulatory investigations supported
88%
Matters resolved favorably
In 2008, my clients signed a loan in CHF, thinking it was a reasonable solution. The exchange rate at the time was 2.27 lei/CHF. In 2014, when the bank declared early maturity, the franc had reached approximately 3.60 lei/CHF—an increase of over 50%, which was not a "peak" lasting a few days, but persisted. In these cases, the banks say the same thing: "you assumed the currency risk, the contract must be respected". The problem is that the law does not ignore situations where a contract becomes, over time, excessively burdensome due to changes that the parties could not realistically have anticipated to this extent. This is where unpredictability and the proof of unfair terms come into play.
The court held that the analysis is not based on "how much the debtor earns" or what assets they have, but on the content of the contract and how the fluctuation in the exchange rate, in terms of magnitude and duration, has upset the balance between the parties' obligations. If you have a foreign currency loan and feel that you have reached your limit, there are usually solutions—but they start with documents and figures: contract, graph, exchange rate, payment history. Write to me and I will tell you what can be done, specifically, in your case!