Have we all given up?

Better to be in it than not!!  But how is the question - can you direct me please?

 I got on the creditors list without the use of a lawyer, as I flatly refuse to throw more money at this. If I had not been seething, I would probably have given up half way through the process! Aifos and their administrators (PWC) tried every trick in the book to make it impossible to register in time - B****RDS!

I also looked into the VAT situation and the good news is that it may be possible to get the VAT content of your deposit refunded. It is only 7% but better than a poke in the eye. I will post when I know more.

I am reliably informed that it will take about a year or more to compile the relevant financial information necessary for the courts to decide whether Aifos can carry on or not, which sounds to me like a ticket to print money for the Spanish arm of Price Waterhouse Coopers (no surprises there!).

I have just returned from a trip to Marbella and the amount of empty and half-built properties all along the Costa is quite simply staggering! I find it hard to believe that the area will ever fully recover. And I detected a rise in anti-foreigner attitude that will sadly get worse, I fear, as the economic situation in the region inevitably gets worse for the locals. Shame!

I have posted before but can't find my previous posts on the website - don't know why - so some of you will know me.

Barry

Just to let everybody know that we have absolutely no news whatsoever. Things have gone very quiet. We have heard nothing from our solicitor.

Any news from anyone else?

 I have a friend who lives on the Costa and is a chartered accountant. He is keeping an eye on things for me and it is his opinion that this whole thing will be a very long, drawn out process, as is the norm in Spain.

But it is definitely true that things are going from bad to worse in Andelucia generally, as the recession bites harder and harder. Maybe much later in the year there may be some developments, but for now there is nothing any of us can do except wait and see.

At least I am an official creditor now and I hope you all managed to get on the list in time, as I fear you will be powerless from outside the administration process. 

As always I will post if I hear anything new.

Barry

I decided to engage a solicitor who was personally recommended to me.  He lives in Madrid and seems to be progressing, very slowly, but as we all know this process will be very long and drawn out.  I am glad that I have engaged a solicitor as I think I would have always wondered could have happened.

I have read this thread over the last years as I anxiouslly waited on the many failed promises from Aifos. Last September I hired a solicitor to get on the creditors list. My solicitor has now heard from the solicitors acting for Aifos with the creditors and debtors list. Lo and behold I have been added to the debtors list stating that in fact I owe more than the outstanding balance for some thing I do not even have! To add further insult to this injury all my original documentation (despite being tracked by the wonderful British Post Office that only admitted afterwards they only track to when a letter leaves the UK and not to the delivery point unlike the advice given to me at the Post Office) has been lost and the court will not accept copies!! My solicitor has written to the court but I suspect I will need to dip further into my reserves of patience.

At least the lists are now out even if they are wrong!!

Don't worry, Aifos has loads of slick moves up its sleeve; we could probably collectively write a book on its shenanigans but to tell the truth I'm just relieved to hear that it actually still exists.

We have just bought another house here in Scotland, a bungalow, so I guess that although my wife and I have not really discussed our plans for the future this house purchase effectively means that Spain is no more for us. So much effort and all for naught really, hundreds of hours spent learning Spanish wasted. Most embarrassing of all however is when I read through old emails to our first solicitor and to the agent that we purchased the property through; oh how they must have laughed out loud at my bloody naivety.

Now I am going to forget about Aifos and Spain. I am going to remove my membership from eyeonspain and stop the emails and stop searching the Spanish media for news about Aifos. Que será será. If, one day, I get an email from our lawyer saying that we have won our case (again), and we actually receive some of our money back, that will be a wee bonus.

Adiós amigos.

 As strange as this sounds and a year on from the last post ,has anyone any news at all?

Regards and not expecting any replies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Andy

Not great news but I spoke to my solicitor before Xmas and tehy said progress was being made but due to the shear numbers involved to be patient. I will try them again but none of us should hold our breaths.

All

I received this info from a UK solicitor

'The current offer of AIFOS is better than before, and the last chance to recover some money, in essence:

• If you bought  only one property, they’ll return to you 100% plus Legal interest(6% per year),
• The payments would start in ten years (after they sell other properties and pay Taxes in debt), spreading in 6 payment over 5 years,
• So you would have the total amount plus Legal interest in 15 years.

As I told you, this is the last chance to get any money, because if creditors do not sign these agreement, the Court will dissolve the Company and sell the assets to pay Tax Office, Banks and I’m afraid there would not be money for anything else.'

Aifos are now clutching at straws. It all hinges on its ability to sell properties between the start of the agreement and ten years later. I don't know if Cortijo is typical of Aifos's portfolio but if it is they can forget about selling anything there. IMO it will be knocked down and buried. I went a few weeks ago and it is utterly depressing, about its only use would be to serve as the set for an end of the world zombie horror movie. Most properties have a shadow cast over them by that massive S shaped building to the south. I just cannot see anyone wanting to live in a huge hole in the ground. When Aifos first started to show signs of failing I enquired about any other properties it had anywhere in Spain as I would have exchanged. Aifois did not have one property completed and legal. Anywhere. Personally, I would like to after the banks as many people have had success with that but it's in the lap of the lawyers.