compensation because of lack of facilities

 Hi  i have contacted costaluz lawyers about the lack of facilities on the resort and they have said that anyone within the resort can go for compensation from polaris  .Has anyone done this?

hi, i have an appartment on terrazas de la torre.

I am due out at the end of the month so if there is any chance of claiming any componsation for the lack of facitiltes i will defo contact the solicitors.

Can you please post more details on this subject.

We bought our apartment through Select Properties, not Polaris, but we were also sold the whole package, shops, bars, hotel etc.. Obviuosly now this will never happen, plus the view from our balcony is of the Golf Course , the view to the right  is a delightful view of cranes, and the half built shells of apartments, which again will never be built / finished. At least I would have thought they would have removed the cranes, as they are an expensive piece of equipment, so who is paying for that I wonder ??   I feel very let down with the development, the lack of facilities, empty apartments, and this is not what we bought into. We were out in April, early in the season granted, but the whole place was like a ghost town, and it is such a shame. I dont know if our situation  would make us eligable for compensation, but if anyone has any advise / suggestions, I would be grateful to hear your comments.

We bought ours in 2009 on phase 1.

I have thought about claiming compensation for the lack of facilities recently.

The residents on another site recently claimed and were successful and a I heard they got 25000euros each.

I think it was Hacienda Requelme.

I will now contact my solicitor to get the ball rolling. The more complain the better.

David and Andrea Holding Phase 1 apt.3923

Keep me in the loop

Hi

I think a lot of us feel the same way

Not sure what mileage there is here. However, even if we can get PW to relinquish their hold on the town centre and therefore introduce some free entreprise in there would be a start in the right direction.

i have read on this that building in never getting finished on our site, is this right? we would definatly be interested in compensation.  do you have to find a solicitor in spain? anyone recommend a good english speaking one?

ta

 Hi all,

we bought in 2007 and handed over in 2010. I would consider joining forces for a legal action against PW for not delivering what they promised. I have been wary of going alone as the legal costs could be significant if you aren't successful, but we could spread that risk as a group. 

Keep me in the loop.

Dave

(Block 285)

My understanding is that the Town Centre was transferred to IRM, and they are now  paying community fees for this property, its future is I think in their hands,

Like every one else I am concerned about the incomplete nature of the resort and feel that Polaris have not  delivered what was promised. However before embarking on costly litigation it would be prudent to verify that there  is money ( or assets)  available with which to pay compensation if a court case were successfull.

How would we go about finding out if there was 'money in the pot' if we did take legal action?

Has anyone yet spoken to a solicitor  and got some advice?

I agree that if we did want to take action it would be much better as a group and to share the cost.

Its abit Chicken or egg.

Without more residents/users, it doesnt matter who opens facilities on the resort they will fail.

The ONLY way to get a better resort is for the properties to sell.

If I were looking to buy again, threads like this would automatically put me off Terrazas I am afraid.

You only need to look at Riquelme, up until 12 months ago the owners were the most unhappy as they were a good distance from anything. The facilities finally opened, not because of finally being completed but because the occupancy of the resort was sufficient to maintain them as enough properties had sold and were being used.

Terrazas will be great when its finished, but it will only be finished when the properties are sold.

 Hi 

My problem with polaris isnt just the town centre we were told there would be tennis courts and a sports centre but its not even built. I would understand if all this was built and not open and they were just waiting on properties to sell. I think they would sell alot more properties if people could see a good range of facilities .I think  Terrezas is a great resort but i have tried to rent my apartment out but because nothing is opened no one is interested.If they build these facilities i would probably buy another  apartment and i know friends and family who would like to buy but are put off with the lack off facilities .Lets hope something happens soon 

cheers scott

 Hi,

I am an owner at Terrazas, I bought back in 2006 and completed in 2009 in Phase 1, just in the middle of the financial crash. At the time I was very reluctant to complete because I knew about the mess Polaris and the banks were in and I knew it would take ages to see the resort complete. I involved a local lawyer (I'm myself from Murcia) and he told me I would have very few chances of winning the case and get my deposit back, however, he did say, that after completion, all the owners should put presure collectively on Polaris to get the facilities finished, because at the end of the day, when we bought the apartment, the asking price reflected the fact that the property was within a golf resort with ALL the facilities advertised. Therefore we have paid for these facilities in the price of the apartment, and these are not there now. However I agree that the best thing for the resort and all of us is to see all the apartments sold. But again, if they not finish the facilities the apartments will not be sold. I already discussed with the bank in Murcia two years ago and they agreed, they are aware of that, the banks need to sell the properties too, but I don't know why they are not putting money into it. I know banks have huge problems in Spain because of all the land the bought too.

Perhaps there is a way of putting presure to make sure the banks that own the resort invest in it to finish it. I am keen to contact the lawyer in Murcia to find out. The banks have been borrowing money from the ECB and they will be bailed out soon.

Hi All,

Posting the reply that we have received from our solicitor, when we asked if it would be possible to claim compensation for the lack of promised facilities by Polaris.

Yes, it would be possible to claim compensation, however it has to be done taking legal actions against Polaris. The legal process would be a long and expensive, and there is no guarantee of success. I would recommend you to propose including in the agenda of the next AGM of the community to contact a law firm to issue a legal report about the options to request Polaris for compensation. In this way it would distribute and reduce the legal fees.  Also, because the claimers would be a big group of people affected it would press the judge.  To include this point in the agenda, you should contact the administrator or President and communicate your petition.

All the owners on Terrazas would have to get involved as one big group. This would take some organizing with everone having  a say?

    Regards Clieve

When is the next AGM - is it at the end of the year?

If it is is it worth asking if Resortalia could send out some sort of questionairre pre this to all residents to see if there is interest and then getting it agreed at the AGM

just a thought

 Hi,

The AGM is usually held the first week in Dec.

We are over on the 14th of May, so we will take our solicitors letter to Resortalia and see what they say.

It would add more strength if other owners contacted them as well.

Contact   tlt@resortalia  or phone  0034 968031365   or   Fax  0034 968031257

                Regards Clieve

 The Community is the organisation of ALL owners and is run on their behalf mostly by our administrator, Resortalia. Resortalia has negotiated with Polaris World over a long period to conclude a compensation agreement which covers money owed to each other and a number of outstanding issues. This is pretty much in place.

Regarding a class action, there is no budget for this sort of action by the community and no current approval for Resortalia to spend time investigating it. Action by the community should clearly reflect the wishes of all owners and as a substantial proportion of the community funding still comes from the banks and Polaris World who are still owners of many apartments this is unlikely to be the case. 

Polaris World has in reality virtually no assets and operates only as the financing banks require. So even if a long and expensive legal action  should finally win the case it is very unlikely that any money would be available to be paid out.

It is understandable that lawyers consulted are enthusiastic as they are clearly likely to  be the only winners from this.

In my view the Community should not use funds paid from all owners for this purpose. Any use of Resortalia or community resources should be funded exclusively by those wishing to take part in this action.

Nic Whittington

Hi All

We completed on Phase 1 in 2009, also having been sold the dream, and whole package, bars, restaurants, shops, sports facilities, club house etc.

It is disappointing that none of these things have yet come to fruition, however we all have to remember that the last 3 years have seen the biggest ever worldwide recession, which has caused everything to essentially shut down, including the provision of all of these promised facilities. Just take a look round some of your own high streets etc to see the effect.  Even look at LaTorre.......tihs is a finished resort, which once provided loads of facilities, albeit, a Polaris World monopoly, the bars and restaurants were expensive, food quality in the restaurants very average and service was generaly very poor. OVer the past 3 years, the residents have seen nearly all of those facilities taken away from them, being left with even less choise in the Polaris monopoly. 

Thank goodness that didn't happen on our resort. I would far rather wait for the facilities to open gradually and for there to be a little bit of choice and maybe even competition eventaully, than to have everything then see it taken away.  I do think the biggest disappointment is that we have a fabulous golf course with no 19th.  This doesn't even make financial sense when you see how busy the golf course is, a 19th hole would be a little gold mine.

Despite the lack of facilities, we still love our apartment and visit regularly.  Despite the resort being "unfinished" I still think it is a lovely place, which is well looked after by the community through Resortalia management company who do an excellent job.

It is in an up and coming area of Spain, close by some fabulous cities and beaches with lots of little towns and villages to go out and explore.

I think everyone just has to be a little bit patient.  Compared to some other uncompleted resorts, I think we are very lucky!

This may not apply to those who purchased apartments before the recession hit looking to make a quick buck, but for those who bought theirs to enjoy as their little place in the sun, make the most of it,

I am optomistic that once the world economy starts to pick up, which it has to, things will start to move again and we will eventually have an even more fabulous resort than the one we have now.

Kim

Hi

Nic and Kim make very valid comments and I am in full agreement,  we need to look forward not back.

Regards

Mark

I agree with Nic and Kim, as more than half the properties on Terrazas are owned by the various banks ( in settlement of PW debts)  or Polaris themselves  there is unlikely to be support for legal action through the Community of owners structure. There must also be some question about  what assets Polaris have with which to pay compensation in the event of a sucessfull court action . Getting a few Euros back isnt what I want, what i do want is the bank owned properties sold and occupied,  the resort completed and thriving.