The Restore Action

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Find below an old post from September 2009 with some amendments made by September 2010 ( italic)

Legal tip 138. The restore action 

11 September 2009 @ 10:24 

If you are in the middle of an off-plan contract cancellation action or are thinking of claiming.

There are many things to be done depending on how the finantial/economic situation will develope in the coming months. ( + possibilities of your action against the financial institution you paid your deposit into, for more info on this, please click on here)

First thing to bear in mind is that this is going to be a buyer´s market for many years to come, and with that no-pressure by sellers and buyers running the show....

-You can buy at a good price and better interest rates

-You can rent with an option to purchase, fixing the price in advance.

-If you are pursuing cancellation (action that can also be called: "restore action": it puts balance in the contract after an abusive old agreement ), you have got several  finantial assets:

-A potential credit against a developer for the refund of x plus legal interests.

- Buying rights on the property in between (the developer cannot sell to anyone else till the contract is effectively cancelled and your money refunded).

- A better position within the creditor´s meeting (if that ever happened)

So... it is not just a matter of contract cancellation at whatever cost, it is a matter of re-establishment of balance. Many of the clauses of many of the contracts I have seen during the last 4 years and a half, which were drafted during the period 2003-2009 are are corrosively abusive. Repugnant.

They were drafted with no respect at all towards the agreed terms od developers, Ministries, consumers… under the National Institute for Consumers in 2001.

I am enlisting some of the games you can play with the above mentioned assets at hand ( but I am not a finances expert.... so please, make your contributions! ):

- You can negotiate a great price reduction with the developer along the judicial proceeding and complete on the property at a much reduced price and with much reduced interest rates

(some clients of us are using this formula now)

- You can sell your buying rights to someone else and withdraw  the claim,  negotiate with both developer and new buyer on a reduced price and the payment of the judicial costs ( it seems German and Norwegian have already some money to look for some sun).( Almost all developers are now ready for settlements of this nature)

It is all a matter of some fluctuants, not rigid factors such as:

- Evolution of the market

- Flexibility of developer

This factor seems to be clearly determined by the decisions of the finantial institutions regarding their own property stock.

but the possibilities are there ( together with many other ones, I am sure)

that.... together with the awesome sensation of being back in control of the situation  ( a new contract agreement)  or at least of a great deal of it.

What do you think?

 Could we all together transform the current situation in a win-win scheme? Please send your ideas.

 Maria L. Castro

Beach "Fuente del Gallo" (Conil, Cádiz), by Luis Lopez-Cortijo