Hi all,

The case IS BEING TRIED  in Penal Court Number 1 in Almeria (Procedimiento Abreviado 248/09 )

289/09 is the court case number.

Get your legal advisors to have a look at this case and explain your options to you. The criminal court has the power to order that you be compensated but only if they know about you.

Hi all.

I don't understand whats going on,can someone please  fill me in , is this good  news or bad, does it mean theres something happening .Sorry  to appear  thick  but it's legal talk  i dont get Thanks

Also Have you seen the front page of the costa almeria news

Taken from the Costa Almeria News

A testament to real estate folly

By Richard Torné

The ruined ACC development has become an embarrassing testament to the gold rush-like hysteria of the building boom that swept through Almería province barely seven years ago.

As trees, shrubs and even sheep begin to reclaim this eerie monument to real estate folly, the only human presence is in the form of marauding gangs of thieves, who can occasionally be seen raiding the complex at night to steal kitchen fittings, cables and anything else they can lay their hands on.

In a further twist, hundreds of copies of discarded sales contracts, all containing the personal details of expat buyers, have been left scattered in the deserted offices of Parador inside the ACC complex – a disturbing reminder that staff had left in a hurry.

Passport details, including home addresses and phone numbers are contained within each contract, showing that every buyer paid at least a 3,081-euro deposit on signing the deal. 

Trudge, it MAY be good news, I have sent a mail to Miguel to ask if there really is a criminal case being heard in the courts.

If there is, then I would guess we could put a claim in for compensation and if there are many involved, and it looks like there are, then perhaps some of them have the wealth to pay us back!

Dont get your hopes up though!

 I have asked my solicitor and she has come back with the following:

 Dear Nigel,

 I have checked directly with the Criminal Court nº 1 of Almería which deals with the case against Huma, in order to ascertain your situation and if we can appear as prejudiced in this proceeding. They have confirmed that various lawyer, after having read the news, have presented writs to appear in the case as prejudiced party, however the Judge is rejecting their petition as he believes that this stage is not the right procedural moment, since in order to appear in Court, this should have been done during the instruction.

Therefore, at present, the Criminal Court does not have the power to instruct Huma to pay indemnify you.

 I have no idea what this means!

I think what they are saying is.. because it is a 'Criminal' case ie they broke the law of the land, this court has no jurisdiction on any 'Civil' matters. ie reclaiming paid deposits/installments etc. Hence no  matter how many people have won cases against Huma, the chances of  Huma actually paying back the money will be zero. Until they deem not paying back money illegal, this court can do nothing.

Thats not how I read it!!! I think they are saying that when the criminal proceedings were brought, the claims for compensation should have been brought at the same time, in other words, we are to late to be part of this process now as they cannot bring claims in retrospectively. It does, however, in my opinion still mean that if they are found guilty it would be of some help to get the money out of them.  

Nigela and Thug,

Your understanding is correct. The judge is saying that it is too late for the victims to take part in the criminal proceedings.

HOWEVER, as you appear to have not known about the proceedings until you were informed by the press, you probably have grounds to appeal this decision.  Others may already be doing so.

One question to ask is what steps were taken by the courts to ensure that you were informed about the proceedings at the 'appropriate' time. 

Regards,

Maura Hillen

AUAN

''A testament to real estate folly''

I would imagine there are quite a few companies, lawyers, and others running around / trying to leave in a 'hurry'.........

Anyone conected to this development in a professional or business related link better keep their heads down very low because the net will be closing in on you soon as well ...............

The EU should also be involved to seize funds and assets.................

 My Solicitor has also said they spoke to the director from HUMA who says that they will win the court case planning will be agreed and building restarted soon and everyone will get their money back!

What a classic - couldn't stop laughing for days!

Thank you so much for that good news Nigel.  No need to worry any more then just a case of waiting a while!!   I think we all now know how to do that.

Interesting to know who makes up all these statements at Huma - bet they have fun deciding which ones to use next.

Sling them in jail and throw away they key.................for real...........

that should put a stop to all the ''one line'' quotes...........

 What does Rowlandsbb think of this current situation re Criminal Proceedings?

 Hi AndyLynn

Did you get your money back - I think it was January you told us you had found a HUMA asset with value in it.

Hi Nigela,

Nope, last update from the Solicitor was that it was in court.That was July !

Our case is slightly different as we were given a cheque but it bounced. Other people were never given a cheque so they are going for breach of contract. We are going through for the court for Huma bouncing a cheque.

Apparently there is a difference.

Its great that you've got the first stage payment but it will be interesting to see if you get the second stage and interests/costs!! I think its fair to say that virtually no one has yet had that success. I have recieved my first and second pauments but no deposit refund and no legal cost or interest so I reckon I'm still around £12K down, better than most people on here but still no good. Best of luck and please keep the forum updated with your progress!!

Great news to read that as recent as December 2010 someone has got a refund ! As for costs and Interest well , that's another story! I only recall one couple back in 2006 that did actually get a full total refund of everything including interest.

Our situation is identical to the post below, and I suspect many others, very lucky in the sense it's 'only' 12k  for the deposit , costs, and some interest we are owed. But how many 12k's does this company STILL owe people ? PLUS THE MILLIONS OF £'s they are still with holding in down payments.

Our solicitor wants additional money (after having been to court and won) to place claims against Huma's assets ! Should we pay her even more money to try and reclaim 12 -15K ? and how confident of a sucessfull outcome are they. (don't think so, do you ?)

We have the consolation that the property would have devalued so much we would have been much worse off and in a big negative equity had we got the property.

Property Purchase cost €110,000 in 2004. Estimated value now €60,000 (if not zero as it would probably have been an illegal build)

Some would say the 'gods' have been kind to us.

our lawer has found an asset that Huma have no loans on, the court have ruled it to be ours as Huma wont refund, but now we have been asked to pay 1800e to hold the asset we have not seen and dont know the value of, has any other buyer experieanced this, I cant afford to throw more money away.

Jack

Huma paid 31K Euros into the court in July 2009 for us, our solicitor siad they had paid because he had placed an embargo on one of their properties.

We paid 2.5K euros up front to start the legal action against Huma and were never asked for any more money.

May be worth getting a copy of the court order from your Spanish solicitor having it translated and getting checked out in the UK

Regards

Mark