Legal notification

Hello everybody, I've just joined!

I am a non-resdent owner of a 1-bed apartment in Estepona. The only debt is 600 euros community charge. The administrators now say they put in a legal claim for this December 1st 2010 (which is probably why the buyers I was agreeing terms with suddenly pulled out). I had told the administrators last November that I was selling and would clear the debt.

As I understand it, the Spanish court would send any documents to the Estepona address.  I haven't been able to get down there fo over a year , so I had no indication of this and was denied 10 days to respond. I don’t want an embargo since I am still hoping to sell.

Surely, as a matter of natural justice, I should be notified of legal action wherever I am. I can’t afford a lawyer so I'm stumped how to find out how far legal proceedings have gone.

Any ideas anyone?
 

Hi Lewie, Yes all notifications will go to the Estepona address I dont think legal things would have gone to far, could you not clear the debt now as with the property you would have to pay elec/water ibi-suma unless your on builders supply. you could always set up a direct debit to pay your community fees. or at the very least make arrangements with the administrator or the presidente of the community with a payment plan if you cannot pay this debt the last thing you need is to have an embargo placed on your property. I am not sure but with regards to court papers you would have to sign for this at the correo/post office.

 Thank you, Goldie.  You're right , the debt has to be cleared and proposing a payment plan is the best idea.  On other threads Faro has pointed out how long Spanish legal matters take so I shouldn't panic.  Never thought about having to sign for the document.  I imagine that would be the case, so thanks again.

Lewie, if the documents are not signed for they get returned to the court what happens next i dont  no, possibly action taken without further notice?

Hope you get things sorted out

Lewie, you say "Surely, as a matter of natural justice, I should be notified of legal action wherever I am." But think about it.  How are they going to know where on earth you are???  And what a lovely way for people less scrupulously honest than you to avoid legal consequences.

In Spain you have a legal domicile address and that is your flat inEstepona and all legal documents will be sent there.  If you do not pick them up, that's your fault.  Legally, you will be deemed to have recieved them and the courts will proceed on the basis that the administrators have done all that could be reasonably expected of them.

Don't rely on slow Spanish courts.  First, there are emergency procedures; and second, interest will accrue on the debt at quite punitive rates.  And once you are embargoed, it will cost you to go through the process of getting the embargo lifted.

If you are only talking €600 of liability, then get in touch with the community administrators and ask for payment details (their bank account details) and get the money transferred.  Or suggest staged payments to them.  Doing nothing is a seriously bad option.

Good luck!

 Ask the President/ Administrator... you may able to settle and avoid legal fees being imposed on you.

Thanks for your advice, Maria. That is exactly what I am going to do.   

 Keep us posted.

Maria

Jek, what do you mean by emergency procedures.

On our community we have cases 3 years old and debtors nearly up to 10,000e. Estepona court cannot cope. As president I would love to get Embargoes put on but am told it is unlikely.

nick

Even if there is an embargo on the property this does not stop you from selling, all that happens is that the buyer checks if there is any outstanding debts on the property and retains the amount of the debt from the purchase price and pays the debt.

Joan

I didn't clarify before that I didn't expect Spanish court jurisdiction to find me in the UK but, as Jek says, "the courts will proceed on the basis that the administrators have done all that could be reasonably expected of them". Well, I only just found out that action had been taken when I queried the figures of the administrators and they sent me an updated account including a 76 euro charge for the debt claim on December 1st. They, of course, have my UK address as well as email but I wouldn't even know now if I hadn't contacted them.

In the meantime, there is considerable argument going on in the community about the charges. The current administrators wrangled with their predecessors for years to get up-to-date financial information from them. They finally got "the book" last February although no recalculation seems to have happened. While this was going on they have been using coefficients from even earlier and now some owners are taking legal action against the community about these. I guess every community has its problems.

For me, I just want to pay what they ask and look for another buyer. I've contacted the President about the debt, to which I can now add another trimester and interest, and hopefully will be able to sort out the best plan for payment.

Thank you all for your help and advice. I'll keep you posted.