deposit bk

Hi, would like to know if anyone has had any further progress in getting their money back.

Hi Colette,

we visited our lawyers in Marbella in  early May.Just to  get a feell of what our chances were regarding return of any portion of our deposit.. Personally  I will be surprised if we do.We definately wont complete. We made  a big mistake ,you win some and lose some.!

MALLARD.

Hi,to mallard,

Do you mean that you would walk away from your deposit if you dont succeed in  getting Bank guarantee,which i also doubt we woud get.We paid 25% so it would be very difficult for me to wave goodby to that sum.

pater 40

 yes, we paid  the equalivent  of  £42,000p.The Bank guarantee is and was not worth the paper it is written on. The definatiion of  a Contract within the Spanish Law system  is not as it is within the U.K.  system,unfortunately  its a law onto itself with its own idea of fairness. We have done alot of homework, spoken to several estate agents enquiring as to todays value of our apt. and based on prices of apts selling etc and comparing like for like we realise that  is not in our interests to proceed. The developer offer us 5% discount ! lol. the likely hood  of theunsolld apts laying empty is great,and we know of others who are pulling out. Just how long  Grupo can sustain this ......... we will be watching very carefully.

I fully agree with your feelings ,we feel exactly the same but i do not think Lawyers of Spain are going to do anything for us,Do you have any other lawyers in mind that would represent us better.    Pater40.                                                                                                                              

 Hi Pater40

We too are being represented by Lawyers of Spain,with whom we are in regular contact.I feel it is a wait and see what happens regarding the number of people completing against the number of apts left unsold and  how the effects the development and the owners bank credit. Prices will fall  after completion with the original depositors. Internationally it is proving very difficult  to raise mortgages etc and this will impact on the market greatly.If the developer sells our apt at discount we then can claim some monies  paid  from our deposit though we realise that no matter what we are unlikely to see much. If it falls into the hands of adminstrators we have been advised that the scenairio should be similar.We shall have to wait and see....

Regards Mallard

 

 

 

 

Hi pater/mallard

im so sorry its has taken me so long to get bk but i have just been so disheartened by the whole thing that i didnt want to know anything, lawyers of spain havent been in touch with us since march this is because we just dont have the money to take this to court, to be honest part of me knows we wont see a penny our deposit at the time of transfere was £56,000  and the other half of me is hoping that we will just like everyone else.

Surely the builder has to pay something bk he was in breach of contract after all do we know how many people have pulled out and what happens to these apartments can he just sell them on? if so then why cant we get our monies bk?,

I keep praying that we will all get good news, well it cant get any worse lol i hope to hear from you soon.

keep well and good luck

Hi Collete, Wish I had some news but I don't.Im not able to assess how many there are of us who havent completed,against those who have, but my guess would be that anyone trading in sterling probably wont or couldnt.It may be that the Russians and Scandinavians who are in a better position may have. We drove around the complex in late July and it was desserted! Idont expect to get anything back not for a long time,also I have the feeling that its not over between the developer and depositors yet. IF anyone has any news or hears of any developments please post a reply! Regards Mallard

Hi,

I have no further news on P.de M,other than to tell you we changed from Lawyers of Spain to Maria de Castro who you would have come across on Eye on Spain.It was a bit of a pain changing over ,you have to give power of attorney to new lawyer and sign papers to the effect you have no complaintsagainst your original lawyers.We have paid an initial payment of 4000 euro to go to litigation,then as things proceed we may have to pay up to 11000 euro if the case goes all the way.We only completed paperwork this week so no news on that for a while.We will still be at the mercy of Spanish legal system.Will post if anything happens.

Peter

Travelling to spain next week to view prospective purchase of apartment at pinares de mijas in block 6. Concerned having read previous comments on this site. Does anyone have any up to date information regarding status of the site and occupancy levels.

 

anxious to hear from other affected parties.

Hi, just to say that we completed on our apartment (10-2-B in block 6) just before Christmas and were there again at the weekend and all the fundamentals that got us to this point are still very much in evidence.

For us walking away or trying the deposit reclaim route were not lifestyle options we wanted to take - and as we have been on this journey for 5 years now we decided to take the plunge, despite gloom, overpricing and ghost town factors much evident elsewhere. We are however adjusting our "lifestyle only" approach to take a more commercial view regading rental of the unit.

If anybody is struggling with legal representation I would be happy to pass on details of our lawyer who did, and still is, doing a fantastic job. Interestingly I met her through Eye on Spain and Mark Wilkin who regularly writes here.

If anybody wants to share thoughts, plans or whatever then do please get in touch.

In the meantime I hope that whatever route you are on works out for the best for you.

Kind regards

Simon

Hi Simon

We are so pleased to hear that we have some more 'neighbours'!  We completed on our apartment 8-0-C in block 5 last July and have already been out several times.  We realize that in many respects it was not a wise financial move particularly because of the exchange rate, but having said that, we are really delighted with our decision.  Although the area is so quiet and will proabably stay that way for a long time, the pool was cleaned every day and we had our own lifeguard!  A very friendly but not English speaking gardener also worked hard every day, sometimes in intense heat and generally the place is well looked after.

We may, at times, want to take friends out to Spain with us and only have a two bedroomed apartment, so if you are intending to let yours, we would be interested to know what the weekly rate would be.

If you see us around at all, please say 'hello', we are booked for Easter and may go out for half-term but we are not sure yet.

Truly hope that you enjoy your apartment as much as we are enjoying ours!

Regards

Michele and Richard

Hi Simon

We completed on our appartment 12-3-k in the last block, just before Christmas.  We are very pleased with our purchase and we visited for New Year.

Although it was very quiet, we absolutely loved it and can't wait to enjoy the warmer weather in the Summer.  The areas were well kept and there were regular sightings of gardeners and cleaners - even at that time of year.

We had a few thing to sort on our snagging list and Marissa's replacement was very helpful (sorry, i can't remember her name.)

It's a shame that so many people have found themselves in a position where they have not been able to proceed with their purchase and I hope all works out for them financially.  The exchange rates have been a massive blow to everyone.  We made the decision to proceed with the purchase because we had looked forward to the change in our lifestyle for so long.

Eventually, we hope to spend more and more time in Spain.  Jim's mother is a native of the Costa del Sol although she lives in UK.  Jim would prefer to be in Spain permanently, but my job and family keep me in the UK.

We very much look forward to meeting new friends and have no doubt that the apartments will fill up in time.  They are in a lovely spot and built to a very good quality, compared to others we viewed, and we did look at an awful lot.

We can only encourage people to carry on with their purchases, if they are financially able to do so, and before long we will all be part of a wonderful thriving community.

Hope to see you all soon.

Gill and Jim

 

 Hi,

Just returned from a much delayed but enjoyable  visit from Spain. We visited  Lawyers of Spain and the outcome seems th at we will eventually be forced to complete. Has anyone else been advised differently or have any comments on the situation? Visited the development and as usual it was like a ghost town!

Regards

Mallard

Hi all ,

Got a letter today from spain its fromthe notary office telling us we have to prceed with the deed of sale on june th 17th they say taht they have contacted lawyers of spain but have not received any word bk as to why we have not continued with the sale as anyone else had any news. please let me know

Hi all

We have recently been in Court trying to get our deposit back, but have just learned that we lost our case.. Absolutely no mention of our Bank Gaurentee. We are at a loss.

Diane and Huw

 hi everyone,

Bank guarantees are set up to provide purchasers with protection against the developer going into fianacial difficulties and defaulting on the building of the premises.They  do not guarantee a return of your deposit it the developer doesnt complete on time as per contract. As our developer did  complete all be it 7 months late costing us all  poor exchange rates and   no means of getting a mortgage!  the Spanish courts will see it as the  contract being honoured.

Originally in 2009 before Sept we were led to believe we would automatically get a refund once the contract date expired,this is not  the case,i think we were misinformed and misled. We then thought if we walked away from the deposit and the property  that would suffice, but no the developer   is pressing us to complete on a devalued property and I feel he is being unrealistic  as the bank value today for morgage is considerablly  less. We are not in a position to raise a mortagage and so are doing nothing . We can only wait and see. I think  everyone should press for a reassessment of the property value from the developer and the more of us that do maybe they will get the message.Surely its better for all? We are off to Spain for JUly and will take a look to see if there is any life at the complex and report back.

Regards

Mallard

Hi

Thanks for that information, it helps hearing someone speaking with empathy.We feel as if we have been banging our heads against a brick wall for some time. We have been offered the opportunity to appeal ( another £1000) but we don't know what to do. We have been hearing alot about law 57/68, which implies the Bank Gaurentee has to be honoured. Do you have any experience of this? Any ideas what the properties are worth now?

Diane and Huw

 Dear All

Just back from our apartment in block 5

We have near neighbours in our block

More interesting is a new painted face to the big board offering apartments from 800 euros per month and if you buy full reduction of rentals paid will be deducted.

More occupied in blocks 6 & 7 Strange to look across from our terrace to see distant faces. HI to ever you all are.!

Great still to have pool to ourselves especially in the heat and after hard day DIY Last elec light fitted and created folding shade under pergola. Sorry to those subjected to several hours of hacksaw noise. Got blisters to prove.

Also decided to get our car ITV test - Known as mot in uk. Found outfit, Holmes, who arranged all, in Marbella including the transfer registration tax etc. Mot not so stringent as uk. Test took 15 mins but have to pre book appointment. Test centre we went to was in Estaponia but we were accompanied by our agent. First test is when car is 4 years old then every 2 years but like ours when over 10 years old its every year. Cost 117 euro's

Needed to change headlamps but local motor factors had them in after long lunch and arranged for mech around the block to fit so after half a day and later in the evening as test centre was open to 8.pm we drove with the pass certificate.

Next trip we shall pick up plates as we were leaving the next day and plates and registration after test was going to take 2 days.

In all it was still cheaper to buy the lhd car in uk have nice drive thro france pay our tax and import duty. Do suggest though if buying a car uk you have certificate of conformity and LHD I think does make speedo issues easier unless its dual calibrated.

Hope you all having difficulties overcome them to enable you to enjoy the development

D & J

Hi there,

We are a distant face from block 6! It's also getting better looking at block 5 and seeing activity there too!

There are actually a few apartments being occupied in block 6 - we have v nice Dutch neighbours, below them is a lovely Spanish lady who lives there permanently, and below us are apparently another English couple (not met them yet as our friends were in the apartment that week. There are two other units occupied I believe - a positive crowd!

We'll look out for you and wave next time we are there in a week or so!

While on, has anybody heard anything about the community yet? It is apparently some person in Malaga - we are tracking down through our local contacts, but any info would be welcome as there are a few things on my mind to enquire about or sort out. These include streetlights (when will they work?); additional key fobs for the main gate; knowledge of the manual overide for the main or car park gate if they don't work or there is a power cut; keys and locks generally (complete sets for all doors and locks having been removed from some internal doors); gardens and garden furniture/sunshades etc

Any thoughts or views on any of these or anything else would be welcome.

Hope to meet up with some of you this summer.

Kind regards

Sally & Simon