Hallo

I have heard from a reliable source that only 40 people have completed on ME23. 

No one in their right mind is going to complete on Medina Golf or Fairways until we hear that all ME23 problems have been solved, the utilities sorted and rents coming in. 

It's unfortunate but I guess it's up to Gasper to find new financing and get this development moving.  Some serious PR work needs to be done to repair Peninsula's reputation.

Anyone thinking of a joint action - please pm me and I'll get a quote. 

Please include your name and Appt no on Medina Golf only not ME23 or Fairways as they have a different builder.

I have received individual costings and now intend to go back and find out how much a group action might save us.

AIS:

Apologies for the delay, I am adding some comments below in bold greeen: 

Just to clarify; if your completion deadline was say summer 2008 then you would need to claim by  ( before summer 2010 if your guarantee is an Insurance Policy, no time limit if your guarantee is a Bank Guarantee) summer 2010? And by "claim" do you mean court action, or simply writing to the developer  I mean: writing to developer asking for the refund our of courts and to the Insurance Company executing the BG and effectively refunding to you full deposit plus legal interests asking them to execute the BG?

Many thanks,

AIS

Guys,

The indications I have are not good that any lawyers will do us the best service by entering into a joint case with others. I am also pretty sure that they wouldn't reduce your costs much even if they did consider this.  For this reason I am going it alone unfortunately. 

I believe that if a joint case was possible then a lawyer would have advertised that here or PM everyone in this forum to ask if they were interested. 

Best of luck to everyone, it would have been nice to save a few pennies but regardless, after all we have lost we may as well fight with what little is left.

Just joined this forum.

I would be interested in other solicitors unconnected to Medina. Any Medina Golf action groups started yet? Have you had much feedback thelooney?

Hello

Can someone advise me if owners are taking Peninsula to court to recover there deposit on Medina Golf?

Thanks

Just joined this forum.

We have paid a 30% deposit on a Medina Golf Apt.  Due to our dissatifaction with the complex and the current property climate we are in the process of cancellation of contract.  We are using Jose Macias through the Crido Lawyer group. We have been unsuccessful in the intial claim for refund from the developer and the bank.  We are now concidering the lengthy battle of sueing - the lawyer is confident we will be successful!  We will be pleased to share our experinces and take on board any advice.

Jim

Hey guys,

After some in depth investigation into lawyers, their costs and our chances of deposit returns I would only say the following for advice:

Ask as many questions as you can about the development to as many lawyers and then regardless of price go with the one you feel you can trust the most.

I have had a huge difference in quotes but only Maria who often writes in the forums was able to break down her quote both accurately and in stages depending on when the case is settled. 

Remember who are the most important creditors IF we are successful and there is any cash left in a pot somewhere.  This will be the banks!

On an 80k euro deposit you will be likely charged 8 - 12% of the total money claimed by your lawyers and if you dont win the case in court then guess who elses costs you may have to cover?

Despite all this we are still going ahead with cancellation.  With no rentals or facilities which may enable rentals likely even in the medium term  (an educated guess knowing the fact that only variable rental plans are now available) then it would be financial suicide for us to complete.  We simply would not be able to afford the morgage and fees here. 

On the other hand, wether we get the deposit back or not, we dont want the spanish courts coming and forcing us to sell our UK house in the future to settle a debt in Spain either so burying our heads in the sand isn't an option.

If Peninsula and the banks had their heads screwed on they would look to secure finance and complete the sites facilities, have some integrety and be honest with rental guarantees perhaps by covering our mortgages until rents are coming in as an act of good faith (all signed up to void the mortgage if it doesn't happen).  They should forget profits and bonuses and go into survival mode here.  Property values in Spain are plummeting, by the end of 2010 they will be down nearly 40% with still further to go.  At auction apartments are fetching pennies and there are a million empty properties!  We should be getting letters of apoligy at the very least for this fiasco and some serious compensation in the form of discounts prior to completion if they are serious in getting any more than the 40 people who have completed on ME23 to join the party. 

All we want is what we were promised in your marketing Peninsula!

Good luck with your choices everyone.

Just thought with this being a new year, I would come on again , and hopefully start afresh.

I know some of you believe I am just a Peninsula stooge, but all I have tried to do is to see their side of things.

Obviously, many problems still exist, and I am not for one moment suggesting otherwise, and never have done.

I am constantly in touch with Steve at Peninsula, and while he is doing his best to explain the delays and put a positive slant on things, there is no hiding the fact that Medina 23 is still not renting out ,and still has no lifts operating etc.

This is totally unacceptable and I have told them so.You can't rent out apartments if the utilities aren't working properly!

Steve has explained the water/sewerage situation to me, and I can only suggest that you call him.He points out that the club-house and the international school could NOT be operating if there was no proper system in place, and it's hard to argue with that. 

I don't understand the gas problem that was mentioned on here, as Spain doesn't have mains gas?

As someone else said on here a while back, the best solution to all this confusion and worry would still be for the site to be finished to everyone's satisfaction,however long it takes, with the promised facilities in place and a flourishing rental scheme up and running.

Mr Looney and many others, it seems, clearly think that this will NEVER happen,.........others, including myself, still hope it will, and find it hard to comprehend that Peninsula would just throw in the towel after such a massive investment.

Don't forget,too, that the site has just won an international award, and I really can't understand how this can have happened if Medina Elvira is a complete write-off.

How late is Medina Golf?

As with Fairways, Peninsula insist it is nearly finished and virtually at the licence for occupation stage.

If this is so,do buyers in either project really have a strong case to cancel at this stage?

Maria said( I think?) completion had to be within two years of the agreed date, so is it now getting to that point?

Obviously ,if there are no utilities available etc, it would be different. Do we know this is the situation with Medina Golf ?

I have asked Steve for an update on the rental scheme and the lifts etc.........he has told me again, by the way, that  work on the commercial centre is due to start any time, and the habitation licence for Fairways is also imminent.

The new rental scheme,he says,is being put in place.

I merely pass on what I was told.

But, of course, it is up to every buyer to contact Peninsula for themselves if they want to.....and then believe what they want to.

I am passing no comment on the situation, or on any of the above, just  trying to get some satisfactory answers. 

When I suggested to Steve that there didn't appear to be anyone living at Medina 23, and happy with their apartment, he said this was not so.

I am going back to Medina Elvira next week and will report back on what I find. 

Steve from Peninisula phoned me this afternoon for an update.

I will make no comment, but advise all to contact him direct, as many people are doing.

Among the latest developments..........

He says there will be a fresh newsletter in the next couple of days.

The rental scheme has been agreed, he says, and is in the process of being ratified in Madrid, guaranteed and  variable.This is being explained  in more detail to anyone who contacts him.

There was quite a lot more on this,including provision of telephones in apartments and a reception area,but says this will be in the newsletter.

The lifts, which hold the key to many of the problems as far as I can see, will be operational very soon.Funds have been made available for this.

The licence for occupation for Fairways will arrive very soon, he says, as they have now resolved the sewerage situation(which involves other developers) with the town hall.

The commercial centre will start soon but not yet. Once they have the occupation licences, they will go ahead with this and then the sports centre.

I pointed out that buyers will only be convinced when they see things in black and white,and see lifts working etc.

He totally agrees.

Once again, I stress I am making no comment, just passing on what Steve has told me and everyone else who contacts him.

Steve sounds like a good bloke doing his best.  Shame about the company he works for Seagull.

Well, obviously buyers must make up their own minds how to respond to what Steve is saying.

Personally, rather than draw rash conclusions, I intend for now to take on board what he's telling ALL of us, not just me, and see what happens in the next couple of weeks before deciding what to do next.

If, and I stress IF, what he's telling us is put into practice very soon.....ie  the lifts are commissioned as he says they WILL be, the rental scheme is satisfactory to us all and  operational, and the habitation licence for Fairways is granted, then I don't see why  we have to presume at this stage it's all gone pear-shaped.

Mr Looney  has called on Peninsula to ensure that  the project gets back on track ASAP.

Well, according to Steve, that's exactly what they ARE doing.

However, of course, the proof of the pudding,.as they say, will be in the eating...............  

Unfortunately I've heard all this before from Peninsula.

Let's hope that if they get all the problems fixed and get granted the Licence for Fairways that they actually do it properly and not by finding some corrupt official. Last thing we need is to believe the place has been finished properly only to find out their answer to the sewage problem is to hire 5 sewage disposal lorries instead of 2.

 Hi Seagull, 

Good to see you back. I appreciate your optimism, but as Jetdog says, we’ve heard all these promises before…

If a large number of people execute their bank guarantees what happens to all those left? Will building be able to continue?

AIS

I have been seasrching sites trying to find any recognition for the golf award received by the development.  Does anyone have any ideas?  If it is the Atarfe Golf Society Annual Award I am going to cry!

Well, in fairness to Peninsula, they did highlight this in some detail in the recent newsletter.

It was announced at the European Property awards that Medina Elvira had won the award for the Best Golf Development in Spain.There were pictures and a report.

They didn't just make it up, and presumably the judges didn't  visit the site blindfolded!

Yes, guys, I know we have heard all this before from Peninsula regarding putting things right.

And until we see evidence that the necessary work on the utilities is being done,and the rental programme up and running, of course we are still going to be sceptical.

However, if Steve is right .......and he was very upbeat yesterday........and they ARE rectifying the problems in the very near future, it's hard to see how a court would grant anyone their deposit back while this is going on.

On what grounds?

I repeat, the best solution for everyone , surely, would be for a complex , which we all agree surely has great potential , to be finished with all that we were promised.

Can I ask again, Mr Looney, how late is Medina Golf ?

Have you been to have a look at your development , which I believe you said you were going to do?

According to Peninsula , Medina Golf  is virtually completed and awaiting the occupation licence.But I think you said on here (forgive me if it wasn't you!) that your apartment was just "an empty shell"?

With regard to the sewerage situation,Steve will explain this to anyone who contacts him.It's not a question of a makeshift set-up, the system involves other developers in the area and has now been agreed , paid for and accepted, according to Steve, by the local Town Hall.

But if you've any doubts on this, surely the best thing to do is to contact him?......I really don't know all the details,but he does.

He says he is on the phone constantly explaining things to buyers, so perhaps one or two could come on to tell us what they think, rather than take my word for it.

This message was last edited by seagull on 26/01/2010.

 Medina Golf is, depending on who you speak to, anywhere up to 18 months over due. They appear to have shifted the completion date for people who signed up later. The best solution, with all due respect, is that we have our money back. If you prefer yours in the form of an apartment that's fine, but if you want your hard earned cash back I think given the delays and current worries that is fine too. After all if this development is going to be as good as was promised, then Peninsula/the developers should have no problem selling them once complete - maybe even at a higher price.

AIS

That's fair enough, everyone must decide for themselves what route they want to take once it becomes clear whether or not Peninsula are able to deliver.

I think you can take it as read that no-one will get  their money back without a lengthy court battle, especially if Peninsula now start to rectify the problems and put the rental scheme into place.

 It's always going to be a lengthy process once you decide to go to court. However, there are two important points - firstly you don't take Peninsula to court - they are just the middleman, they having nothing to do with your money - you take the developer and bank to court. Secondly, whether the development is finished or not won't affect your claim if the completion date on your BG or contract has past, i.e. the contract has thus been broken. So if you have started down the road in getting your money back, and you have a good lawyer, there is nothing Peninsula or your developer and bank can do, other than abide by the courts decision - which will be based on the breach of contract and not on the current state of the development.