lost deposit

Hi I paid 30% deposits on several developments on the costa del sol and have been trying to fight to have the money returned. My lawyer feels that he can recover the monies but it could take more years of fighting. I have been offered a deal where another developer will take over my legal action and gift me a deposit on a completed property so i need not part with any money and still have a property, has anyone else come accross this type of deal?

I know a few companies that are now doing this.  The only thing is that the property you will be offered is generally not great, but you would need to weigh up the pros and cons of going either way.

Best of luck with it.

Justin

Ian

Which development is this offer on sounds to good to be true but i know developers are desperate and banks are pressurising them for commited sales.

I suppose you have nothing to lose by doing this just make sure you have perhaps an agreement in principal if you are lending any money before you start signing any more spanish documents

Regards Rod

www.ournextholiday.co.uk

Is the developer really going to take over the legal action?  Properties were overpriced to start with so gifting you a 30 percent deposit is just a way of providing you with a property at 30 percent discount...so you are not really any better off.  You may not be parting with any more money re a deposit, but what about the rest of the price of the property?  Won't you be providing more money to pay for the rest of it?  Be very very wary. Make absolutely sure you want to buy any property on offer this way...and that you're not just looking to get something back for all the money you've paid out so far.  Yes, I'm being cynical....but it has saved us from dodgey deals more than once! 

I am wondering how many people were really affected by lost deposits on off plan property in Spain?

I made a social network site to link such people together and to try to help people looking for others in their failed developments for help and support...and also to try to answer the above question.

EOS is a great means of linking us all together...where would we be without it?

Since starting the social network site for those of us affected this way, there has been a steady flow of sign ups anway! Maybe we can get close to answering my question at some point in the future....

If you have been affected this way please sign up by clicking on the link below:

http://lost-property-deposit-in-spain.wall.fm

See you there...and have a look to see if any others in your failed development are there too!

Hi I paid 30% deposits on several developments on the costa del sol and have been trying to fight to have the money returned.

Are you saying that you lost one deposit of 30%?,   then went on to give another 30% over, lost that one, and possible a third.

Which makes it sound like you paid almost 100% of a house price anyway.

Yes Baz I think you are right...it would have been best to have paid for one in cash!....after it was built of course next time.

KoS

http://lost-property-deposit-in-spain.wall.fm

Yes Baz I think you are right...it would have been best to have paid for one in cash!....after it was built of course next time.

I find it hard to believe, once bitten twice shy.....but not with this person.  Makes no sense to me at all. Must be more to this then meets the eye.

Yeah you misunderstand me, or I am not clear. Anway forget it and good luck with your recovery work.

Please visit us at http://lost-property-deposit-in-spain.wall.fm see how many others you might like to understand further!

KoS

 Hi King of Spain , 

Dont get stressed - you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink !

Sometimes on here whenyou try to offer help or your own experiences  all you get back is sarcasm or abuse or people who simply dont even understand what you have written .

You have done a great job to get your forum going  its clear and simple to use , dont be defeated by people who struggle with basic english and cant see the wood for the trees 

Hi I paid 30% deposits on several developments on the costa del sol and have been trying to fight to have the money returned.

Are you saying that you lost one deposit of 30%?, then went on to give another 30% over, lost that one, and possible a third.

Which makes it sound like you paid almost 100% of a house price anyway.

What he's done is not unusual. He's bought several properties either on the same development or on different developments all within a close timescale. There's no limit to how many you could buy. On paper, at the time, it was a good investment, if risky.

Btw, do we have quote option on this forum?

What he's done is not unusual. He's bought several properties either on the same development or on different developments all within a close timescale. There's no limit to how many you could buy. On paper, at the time, it was a good investment, if risky.

Your joshing me surely,  so this person has the means to buy several properties, but not the know how to understand and see what is happening in Spain right now, and over the past year or so, talk about not doing their homework. 

 Lets say this person has the means to buy several properties, as it seems, don't you think they would have had the brains to have had one sorted out before they bought more, after all Spain has plenty to sell and for the most part properties ain't exactly flying of the shelves are they?

Perhaps this person has made so much money they can afford to miss these deposits until such times as they get them back, but yet again if this person has made this much money it's hardly likely they need to come on a forum asking advice.

You will have to tell me who you pay these deposits of 30% to, your solicitor or the builder,  if it's a good solicitor you should be safe by making sure they don't hand over until the right time, if it's the builder then you should know if big ones go bust theirs not much chance with a smaller one.

A good investment is also a very good calculated risk but to lose several deposits on the same thing ain't to much of a calculated risk to me.

Sorry to be very cynical, perhaps that's why in all my house buys in Spain i have never lost a penny.

Baz 1946,

I don't think you really understood what was being said by the OP.

He said he bought several properties off-plan. He didn't say when he bought these but he did suggest that it was years in the past, how long we don't know, but it certainly wasn't recently as you are suggesting in your argument. I think you should read the OP again.

The reason that he bought more than one (is it really that hard to understand?), is he was trying to make some money, like a large percentage of people do when they buy off-plan. And, yes, there is an inherent risk in buying something on speculation. To make money in this world you have to take risks. Surely you 'have the brains' to understand that?

As for the rest of your incoherent, poorly thought out post, the less said the better.

Oh, and btw, i think you owe the OP an apology.

Oh yeah, and this x1000000000:-

Hi King of Spain ,

Dont get stressed - you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink !

Sometimes on here whenyou try to offer help or your own experiences all you get back is sarcasm or abuse or people who simply dont even understand what you have written .

You have done a great job to get your forum going its clear and simple to use , dont be defeated by people who struggle with basic english and cant see the wood for the trees

He said he bought several properties off-plan.... Did they say this? because i have read the post over quite a few times before i posted and since and nowhere can i read "Of-plan"

did suggest that it was years in the past,...   Did they say this? because i have read this post a few more times then it seems you have and the only suggestion is that the solicitor seems to think it might take years to get his money back.

Did i suggest this was done recently? i don't think so, and if it was by chance done in the past few years then more fool this person for leaving it this long, but then that's up to them, isn't it.

And please don't lecture me on taking risks in this world to make money, i own many business's, employ over 40 people and have done so for the past 30 plus years, have taken so many "Calculated risks" that might make you cringe.

To date i have also owned and sold over four houses in Spain and not lost one penny on any of them, but then i only ever bought something that has been standing up for a few years,  could see and could touch them, and in a good position. But i do know folk who have bought of-plan and lost all the money due to the builder taking a walk, more the fool them. 

Sorry but if you think that taking risks to make money is by buying something that is not built, not seen, and knowing full well all the horror stories that have been connected to buying houses in Spain is the way to go, then i wish you luck because you will need it, and that applies to buying anything, as seen by all the jerks who paid large deposits for undelivered goods from Comets of late. 

And oh yes i also have the brains to work out that you don't put several deposits down on unseen, unbuilt properties...if this was the caseand remember that hasn't been said yet!...then gripe because you have lost them,  i am glad i have a small amount of them things you call brains.

And yes my posts might be "Incoherent" to you, that i can only put down to having next to no education, not like some on here.

If you read the detailed petition text re BG's in Spain ( www.bankguaranteesinspain.com/text.htm) you w ill see that the majority of aspects relating to lost deposits are connected to the failure to enforce AN EXISTING LAW IN SPAIN LEY 57/68. This is an ongoing educative process to be honest as there is still much misunderstood and misinterpreted by consumers (purchasers), lawyers, litigators and the judiciary......

If you read the detail it may well clarify many observations that are expressed when making judgements relating to this topic, especially the inalienable rights of purchasers of offplan property. Most offplan purchasers only proceded with off plan purchase due to Bank Guarantee Law being in place from the outset, with the majority being "reassured" by conveyancing lawyers and in many cases developer's marketing literature, that their monies were protected. Now, thankfully mostly due to Keith Rule's determination to gain justice and several year's research, together with lawfirms that place consumer protection high on their agenda, case law is being established, but there is still much to do.

So long as the surmise is that purchasers were foolish to believe in the enforcement of existing Spanish Law, in place to protect consumers from the outset, then sadly this false perspective will be to the detriment of all, as the rule of law is the very basis to any civilised society, and those suggesting otherwise through false inference, do great harm to Spain.

The good news however is that  gradually this law is being correctly applied by some judiciary, with case law acting as precedent.

BUT in the interim, sadly. the compromising lengthy timescales relating to court delays, inconsistency of judicial rulings, etc, all add to the continuing problems re gaining justice. It's for these reasons that I've suggested that it's in everyone's interest to bring this petition text , the onerous court delays, the need for a fast track mechanism to resolve this matter and make the Banks fully accountable, to the attention of MP's, MEP's, (via www.writetothem.com)

Hopefully many will respond to this, as without a concerted effort to highlight these realities, the problems will continue indefinitely.

http://www.bankguaranteesinspain.com/text.htm

 "and that applies to buying anything, as seen by all the jerks who paid large deposits for undelivered goods from Comets of late. "

All of this comes down to effective consumer protection and consumer rights as per the rule of law.

In the case of property rights then without judicial consistency and effective and enforceable rule of law, all consumers will remain at risk whenever parting with monies relating to property purchase. Property rights in Spain have been significantly abused (some retrospectively even when the property was "seen") which is why threads such as this are so prevelant, and why (sadly) it's so essential to forewarn and highlight the realities associated with failures to enforce the rule of law in Spain.

If Spain wishes to restore credibility in its real estate sector then these issues will have to be resolved, and no manner of spin/rhetoric will detract from the need for fast track solutions.

FAO -  Baz 1946

"and that applies to buying anything, as seen by all the jerks who paid large deposits for undelivered goods from Comets of late. "

I can't believe he had the nerve to justify that! Unbelievable.