Bank Guarantee Expired.

Bank Guaranteed Expired:

I have managed to get hold of my solicitor after noting that my file (and presumably those of others associated with ACC) had been moved to Martinez Echevarria HQ in Marbella.

I was duly told that my bank guarantee had expired - I guess it was my fault that I wasnt tracking the date so I have requested via the solicitors for an extension from Huma.

However can anybody tell me what this actually means. With an expiry of the guarantee how vulnerable does this make my situation in terms of losing my deposit and is Huma likely to renew the guarantee.

Robster,

I have had no problems in Huma renewing my bank guarantees, what the paper is worth they are written on is another question !!

No seriously, don't panic too much Huma have been fine with us and they have been renewed serveral times since investing in 2004.

is there anyone out there know the true meaning of a BG in spain,we always thought that our money was safe in the hands of the bank that had issued the BG,until we sought legal advice somewhere else,then we were told the BG means your money is safe,locked away no one can touch it,(or the bank will cover it)but not until that date expires,in other words you cant get it back before the date it expires,,which is why our cheques for money back are dated on the same day BG RUNS OUT,also does anyone know if it s possible to bank a post dated cheque in spain,thanks

hicky,

I havent a clue if spanish banks have different rules to the rest of the EU, but a Bank Guarantee is where the bank keeps hold of the money until the conditions laid down are met or broken. e.g they will not let the builder have his money until the property is handed over. The other way they will give the money back is if the contract conditions have been breached, e.g your property was not completed in time as per the dates in the contract.

Huma may be boxing clever and renewing guarantees because it means the banks hold on to the money for another 6 months. Like I said,  not sure if there is a clause that backs this up or spanish banks work differently, but when i dealt with industrial bank guarantees, if the contract conditions had been broke, you could get hold of the money as soon as the bank was satisfied as such. An example would be a piece of equiipment failed and the vender said tough luck I'm not coming to fix it. If the bank agreed with the buyer that the warranty period was still valid and the conditions on the guarantee had been broken, the bank would pay out - they wouldn't wait for the whole 12 months of the warranty to expire.

How you prove such things I am not sure - the fact that you have no house should do though !

Hicky,

if the bg is current and breach of contract has occurred then you get it exercised as quickly as possible. Once your solicitor has started the process it doesn't matter if the Bg then expires, you then go through the process of granting your solicitor attorney and send all paperwork pertaining. Bank may try and renew the bg but your solicitor should resist this and carry on exercisiing Don't for pity's sake wait till it expires.

Can anyone tel me if Huma have renewed Bg's lateley to buyers?

scales

Spanishpropertyinsight have a number of posts on the issue of bank guarantees.  People are saying that the developers are instructing the banks not to refund stage payments. My thoughts at the moment are ; it is bad enough the developers ignoring the law, but when the banks are acting  illegally also,  why do Spain bother to have any laws at all?

I always thought that banks could be trusted and were regulated -  how wrong I was . I can't wait to get out of this mess. 

hi unclegeoff,      just been told more or less the same thing from our friends bank manager,the exp date is the day you can collect your money from the bank(if of course its not renewed)and not before this date,anyone trying to execute a bg before this date will not get there money,but been told that many conflicting stories the last 18 months our brains are mashed,and info different from one solicitor to another,where does that leave us!!!!!!!!!!

from the general forum

Again, strongly ask the Bank to honour the Bank Guarantee and if not, start a judicial action against the Bank. That is a fast judicial action, not the declarative ones against developers for breach of contract but an execution of the title before the Courts, For you to see how much you already have is like if you already had a Court Decission in your favour.

Maria.

_______________________

Maria L. de Castro, JD, MA

Lawyer

Director www.costaluzlawyers.es