Hi All
I found this in the CBN this week, in the letters to the editor section
Pilar de la Horadada
September 4, 2009
Dear Editor,
Like CBNews we have been following the sorry plight of these poor people who were unfortunate enough to have put deposits on properties to be built by San José.
These residents of the flats near La Zenia, like ourselves, put deposits and have contracts for properties that were planned to be built by San José at Jumilla, E Pinet and Albatera, and like ourselves four years on have no such property and no immediate prospect of return of our money.
In our case along with hundreds of other people we are waiting for the courts to decide on what is the best course of action now that San José have put themselves into the hands of the administrators.
In all of this it appears San Jose have blatantly ignored even Spanish laws by not providing bank guarantees, not obtaining the necessary licences, not completing on time, not putting the deposits into a separate account, and not returning deposit monies when they have broken the contract.
How much more can San José get away with?
It is typical of San José to expect depositors to accept only 21% of their money back to purchase a key-ready villa for an inflated price in the current marketplace.
San José have broken many contracts and should be paying out interest on the money they have kept, in our case four years worth, not expecting depositors to help them out of their financial mess.
San José have ruined so many people's lives who thought they were going to end up with a beautiful property and who are now in a very difficult position.
Despite best efforts of the individuals who have lost their money the perpetrators of these blatant acts of law breaking the board and chairman of San José still seem to be walking the streets and living in their homes as if nothing has happened.
They still drive around in their big cars and the law would appear to be completely inadequate in bringing these perpetrators to justice.
If Spain wishes to regain any credibility with potential purchasers of property in the future the laws appertaining to the deposits and licences must be removed from the builders and held in a government bond that can only be administered by the government representatives and not left in the hands of unscrupulous developers to misappropriate the funds as they see fit.
We hope that Spanish law falls on the side of the residents in the case of La Zenia and not with the unscrupulous dealings of San José and the administrators who are involved in their case particularly when they have a valid contract with San José.
Martin and Delia Lewis