Bad news in Spain!

Quote petha:

"Not all Spaniards are corrupt and a large majority of all nationalities have bought

property in Spain without any problems at all.

if you read other postings people are getting their deposits back through the courts.

After the recent MPs expenses in England we are in no position to give lessons

on morality and corruption to the Spanish"

Well said!

Quote Eva:

"where the hells Norman?"

He's probably mooching around the Good News threads and waiting to pounce on some unsuspecting poster should they post anything even remotely positive about Spain.

He doesn't want to hang around the Bad News threads, as others are doing that for him!

 Peteha

All well and good that 'some' are getting their deposits back but what about the thousands yes thousands who haven't got their deposits back who have gone through the judicial system for years and still no have nothing to show for it but very large bills from solicitors!

I would never suggest that all Spanish are corrupt and indeed have not done so. As for the British MP's expenses I am not responsible for them and will post my views whatever they are. Spain has a long, long way to go before it can be deemed a democratic and fair country as unfortunatley the Franco years are not too far in the distance. Many of my Spanish friends say they are totally fed up with the corruption in Spain and want a change, now they can comment on it!

One thing that really gets my goat is Brits(not particularly you I might add this is an example) who post on forums that they have moved from the UK to get away from all the 'Brits' and post nothing but negative comments about anything British. In my line of work I see this everyday and as sure as eggs are eggs the vast majority of Brits end up going back to the UK!

The average time spent living in Spain by Brits is about 5-7 years so don't burn your bridges as the grass is not always greener.

That said, I love Spain but I do tread with caution in all fields and I do also feel it is important to warn people warts and all of the pitfalls that they could encounter if they are not careful. Bon appetit..................

Well said KP.

For those who don’t understand please don't ignore the fact that Spanish developers are illegally asset stripping AFTER case wins for breach of contract have been achieved, and/or after enforcement orders have been petitioned against them. That is not to mention the many who are being compromised by the massive Spanish court delays which affords the Spanish developers time to illegally asset strip and then declare insolvency or go into administration leaving the innocent party with nothing....... there are so many facts of this nature to report. Without doubt there are many questions to answer regarding the corrupt practices that are still occuring in Spain, that some sadly choose to ignore or suggest that the instances are few and far between.

Bad news makes for uncomfortable reading and indeed it's sad to report cases of this nature, but to diminish their existence and not look for solutions that would benefit everyone in the longer term is a sad reflection of an over defensive perspective that assumes that all too many "stuck" in the Spanish legal quagmire, through no fault of their own, have been stupid or don’t deserve justice. They have followed procedures and won their legal cases, only to find that they face a legal administration system that ironically denies them their legal rights. The issue is against the Spanish government for allowing abuse of this nature to exist, and where all too often the innocent (Spanish and foreign alike) are being used as political pawns stuck in disagreements between Spanish regional and national governments.

As for corruption or malpractice in any country it does no service to those who have been affected by this to make comparisons elsewhere, as one instance in any country is an instance too many, but it is essential to focus attention on how best to eradicate these instances and thereby transform the bad news into good news. Since this thread title is “bad news in Spain”, it's Spain that we are making reference to here.

That said, it is good news that a few are regaining their deposits and I would be interested to know the facts surrounding these successes, so that all can put into perspective the truth surrounding these case wins instead of making bold generalisations.

We should all be working together on this for the benefit of all in the longer term and not become divisive turning one against another by all too many bold generalisations.

I cannot help tolkeep  thinking and thinking  that this is the solution:

Because we see this is what is needed in the most of the cases were people bought off plan and did not receive a Bank Guarantee,



Because claimers are frustrated and tired of waiting for years for a Court decision to be honoured and this do not happen due to the financial status of developers,



Because it is a great tool to try to put some correction to the financial system in off plan purchases for the protection of buyers so we can be sure these current problems will not happen again in our country,



Because we need to show to foreigners that Spain has a strong and coherent legal system,

 

Because we can offer low cost action to groups of people under the rules of our professional ethical code,



Because Banks have been the necessary element without which the current off-plan disaster in Spain would have never happened,



Because Law 57/68 makes them clearly liable for the lack of Bank Guarantees,



Because we have been studying this action for months with the help of a first class Law Professor who is available to answer questions in Court regarding the report he produced for us,

Because is necessary, because you need it mainly



We are offering to all the EOS members the possibility of joining existing actions against Banks under provision 1.2 of Law 57/68 at a much reduced cost.



Main ground of Law 57/68 is the protection of money advanced by individuals before construction work begins or during it, in many cases the savings of a lifetime.



The actual preamble or “exposición de motives” of the said Law establishes that all the "abuses in this type of businesses have made as necessary the establishment of general preventive rules which will guarantee both the real and effective application of money advanced by purchasers and prospective customers to the building of the house and to the refund in the event that the building does not take effect".



The most preventive, general, inalienable obligation that this Law established was for banks or savings banks, where money was paid to by buyers, to secure the establishment of Bank Guarantees or insurance UNDER THEIR LIABILITY. Banks were therefore here established as guardians of legality. 



Please contact us here: web@costaluzlawyers.es if you want further information about this.

Have a great week,

Maria L. de Castro 

o

 

Tarifa Harbour by Luis López- Cortijo

 

Looks like Spain is in big trouble.  It looks like it is imminently going to ask for a big chunk of that IMF/EU bailout money.

More details here.

It all looks a little too scary... I am glad I don't have any cash investments in Spain. I would like to know how the Bank of Santander can afford to make an offer to buy yet another British bank -  Royal Bank of Scotland! Can any of the finance buffs throw a little light on this?

The publicly listed banks such as Santander look in decent shape.  It's the Cajas that are in big trouble and will bring the Spanish economy to its knees.  The Cajas are the ones heavily exposed to the Spanish property market and hiding their mamouth losses still.

 Thanks Sanchez,  who needs Wikipedia when we have EOS.........

maria

I think your solution would be fantastic for everyone if it worked?  It  would no doubt  benifit Spain and Spanish people as much as those from other countries.  With that in mind. and law 57/68 clearly being abused, wouldn't it be a good idea for honest lawyers in Spain to get together and form a group of you to fight on a 'no win no fee' basis for those of us clearly cheated by ultimately the lack of implementation of Spanish law.? If you are so confident that the law will be upheld, what have you got to loose? 

Those of us who have spent years and large sums of money trying to get justice when we are clearly in the right and even have court cases in our favour to prove it, obviously feel that spending yet more time and money trying to get our money back is not a wise thing to do.

We just want justice, not more expense or well meaning false hopes?

 Goodstich44, that sounds like a brilliant idea, it makes sense that if the lawyers know they can win then a no win no fee situation is great because the lawyers know they can win don't they? Mmmmmm if it was only so easy Maria.

KP/ads

your posts continue to show you as caring people with common sense and compassion, and in complete contrast to some others on the thread. Good on you!  We must indeed stay strong and focused.

Yes, we are actually asking for very reduced provision of funds for those clients who already have the contract cancelled and can join an existing group action. We need the initial provision of funds ( 2000 €) as we need to fund our activities and pay our personnel and litigators ( around 15 people working on this type of cases).

Then no more payment is requested till the money is actually refunded to your accounts. The rest of the fees will be hopefully paid back by losing part, so we will ever get to refunf to you the initial 2000 €.

What if the Bank is an ailing Caja, Maria? Will there be a problem gaining the monies back from them?

Also you mentioned in your last post that the contract would have to be cancelled, so does that imply that the case would have to have been reviewed by the judge and the first instance case won?

 Maria, we all know you mean well but the emphasis is on the words 'hopefully' get your deposit back.

If the wording was 'definitley' get you your deposit back' then I think you would have a few hundred thousand people knocking on your door.

and we would only have to pay 1 euro?

Well.... hope needs to be included even in the most deeply studied cases, even backed by Law high Professors, even having related Case Law to be brought to the case and even having a social tendency to find out about Bank´s liabilities.

I honestly think we will succeed with this claim, but cannot assure it. That would not be honest.

We try to bring people to knock at our doors always out of truthfulness and hard work,  never out of hyper-expectations. Again, I do expect, I am very inclined to think that the action will work out.

Everyone seems to understand the action quite clearly ( many Law proffessionals among them). We do hope (hope is a a great virtue) Judges will do likewise.

Best wishes,

Maria

Looks like more strikes on the way in September this year.  More here.

Legal tip 300. Banks properties for Banks liabilities
15 June 2010 @ 11:24

Permalink

 Excellent idea. I am voting for Maria for President of Spain............