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This story (in bold below) appeared on another thread yesterday but it is in line with a comment I made recently whereby I said I personally believe the Spanish Government or Banking sector would try to prevent judgments finding banks at fault or liable.
The Finance Minister knows only too well how much damage such judgments would do to the Banking sector and to the already struggling or failing economy and to its international reputation. Only recently, Elena Salgado, sought to reassure investors on the solvency of Spain’s financial sector by insisting that its banks had a combined capital shortfall of at most €20 billion that could be covered by a state-run fund. There is no way she or the Government are going to open the safe and hand back deposits to English buyers.
So on the one hand we have Beatriz Corredor the Spanish Housing Minister appealing to British buyers to return and at the same time we have Elena Salgado the Finance Minister criticising judges for decisions in favour of the consumer or borrower.
THE Spanish government has slammed a court ruling which prevents banks from chasing bankrupt homeowners for more money. Finance secretary Elena Salgado criticised the Navarra judge who ruled that giving a mortgaged house back to a bank is sufficient to cancel a mortgage debt. ………….. agency Moody’s have warned it could deter important investors in Spanish mortgage debt.
Anyone else got an opinion …………….
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Faro - THE Spanish government has slammed a court ruling which prevents banks from chasing bankrupt homeowners for more money
Faro, if the homeowner is bankrupt, that's it...end of story. What's the point of bankruptcy law if banks can continue to chase?
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If Spanish want UK buyers back buying in Spain they should clear this off plan deposit theft mess up.
In fact I think now is a great time for exposing this as it is another scandal they have to face and sort out.
Seems like the lessons of Ley 57/68 were never learnt. It should be re-inforced by an amendment in 2011.
The authorities are just burying their head in the Spanish sand on this one. I am sure they know about it.
What we need to do is make sure the media know about it so they can't bury their heads.
I saw some recent posts about this which was encouraging.
KoS999
_______________________ http://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/propertydepositreclaiminspain.aspx
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GuyT - I'm not sure we are talking of a declared bankrupt.
But the Spanish finance minister is objecting to the judge stopping the bank going after the borrower for the shortfall in this negaitve equity situation.
The Spanish finance minister is saying the bank should be able to go in for the kill.
I have not read the case or know much on the detail but if correctly reported then I do find the Government's position interesting and does not give much in the way of encouragement to those with bank guarantee claims and certainly those that do not even have the luxury of a bank guarantee.
I honestly cannot see the governemnt allowing judges to open the safes of banks and hand money out to British buyers.
Also generally speaking the Spanish do not have a great deal of sympathy for foreign buyers who contributed to driving up the price of property such that locals could not afford to buy.
That's my feeling - my opinion but I hope I am wrong!
Does anyone know how much money is involved if everyone came forward to collect?
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King of Spain 999
I have contacted the newspapers numerous time without response, The Daily Mail totally ignored all my e mails, yet they had double page spreads regarding celebs who had lost money. The only news investigator to respond was Andrew Penman from the Mirror, but he has never done anything about it since. I had to re send the info as he said he had not received it, but still no response. It may be worth a load of EOS users to contact him and hope he will then respond to more people complaining. I wouldn't hold your breath tho!!! It is about 10 months since I first contacted him.
As to how much money is involved, I once worked it out roughly to over 95,000,000 Euros. That was taking it on almost 2000 buyers paying on average 50000 Euros. I can't remember the exact figure. It was a hell of a lot anyway. Since Huma have mortgages on most properties, where has this money gone?????
Regards Lin
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I have said before we do need to find a celebrity to get the interest of the press.
In Spain you would need someone like Belen Esteban.
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"Time will tell"
My "can of worms" was opened in 2004, nearly 7 years, I am a pensioner and time is running out ? ?
I may be mistaken but I would guess that a lot of buyers are in a similar position ? ?
We are not talking about loose change here, tez mayne has estimated that we have collectedly lost or more precisely had stolen, over 95,000,000 euros
This message was last edited by belucky358 on 04/03/2011.
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............................. time is running out..........................
Now that phrase poses a question.
If I/we were to die whilst the legal suit is still unresolved can the heirs to my/our estate carry on the fight?
I hope the banks are not so reluctant to repay the many claims because they believe the claimants will die before they are made to cough up.
Am I being a tad synical in my thinking?
_______________________
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Hi Sandra,
Have no fear, if that should happen, I'm sure that our friendly Spanish Lawyers would be more than willing to charge us for transferring any paperwork into our descendants names.
The Banks could well be playing the "waiting game", it is a well known ploy when dealing with the older generation, look how insurance companies, when dealing with health complaints, use delaying tactics, for example, Shipyard workers, Miners, etc.etc.
BTW, if the figure of 95,000,000 euros didn't frighten any one, hows about nearly 84,000,000 pounds ?
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It's no surprise when you think of the amount of elderly ones who had hoped to retire to Spain. Of course people are dying in the midst of litigation and passing this nightmare down in their Estate.
I heard from one young man whose father suddenly died before his drawn-out litigation against a developer was anywhere near reaching a settlement. He had no idea of the problems His Father was dealing with, but they have now been passed on in His Estate. What a legacy to be left with!
I think 1 Billion Euros + is a fair figure to go by. While the banks are refusing to pay out on legitimate Bank Guarantees, there is little hope of them paying without them - just my opinion though!
This message was last edited by Suzie on 04/03/2011.
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Would anyone really wish this headache upon their beneficiaries?
Suzie - I think some people don't like to admit they made such a mistake to family and friends. I know I have asked some people for details and they did not wish to discuss and consider it a very private matter.
also I think for some the worry or anxiety will certainly lead to an early death.
There are many who paid their deposits 8 years ago and are still fighting.
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In complete agreement Faro. I know of one Consultant Surgeon in a similar legal position to myself. He wouldn't sign the petition, thinking that people would see him as a "fool" . And of course everyone is entitled to keep these problems as private as possible, if they wish. You can't argue with that. I suspect many who read threads such as this one on this forum feel similarly, and 'check-in' on a regular basis to see what further information they may be able to pick up but they don't contribute any themselves.
I'm one of those who paid their deposits 8 years ago - 2003 to be exact. All hearings/appeals I have patiently waited for & also had to attend one in Spain & give evidence. I've 'won' but not a single Euro back to date. The embargoes I've had to pay for are still sitting in a pending tray at the Court, waiting to be actioned.
Now, where did i read that 'Spain has a solid legal system'? Must have been a nightmare. The issue is not a problem with the Law but the implementation of it.
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Maria says solid but solid could equal a brick wall - that's a good one!
I say just give us efficient and we'll be happy.
afordable would also be good!
This message was last edited by Faro on 04/03/2011.
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Seven years since taking our deposit. Finally received judgement today.
Aifos in breach of contract. We have been awarded return of deposit plus interest. (We have been trying to get it back for the last3-4 years).
No compensation for moral damages or loss of appreciation (at the time we began action this was over 30,000 Euros) as they did not feel we had been able to prove that we had intended to move out to Spain.
Original (independent) Solicitor didn't believe in writing letters, used the phone therefore a lot of my possible evidence was in the form of post on this website, which was subsequently deleted when EOS did some system changes. We have found it difficult to prove that it was our intention to live in Spain, despite the fact that I retrained with the intention of teaching in Spain. I/We feel very let down by the Spanish justice system.
We do have an embargo on a property.
Solicitors fees, production of documentation etc. have cost a small fortune. If we ever get our money back it will certainly be far less than we paid out.
My husbands health (arthitis) deteriorated, as too has mine. I pray that we will some day get some of our money back.
Some years ago the UK forced Banks to hold CLIENTS accounts for Insurance Companies and Solicitors to hold deposits for clients puchasing property, I cannot understand why the banks are not forced to hold Deposits in Clients accounts for builders, particularly as these can frequently be clearly identified.
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Again it's the same story over and over again
- Years of battling
- Victory does not equal return of deposit
- Almost impossible burden of proof
- Incredibly expensive
let down by the Spanish justice system
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Hi,
Can someone explain what happens to the "Embargo" when the company goes bust.
We are in exactly the same position as robinson66 and AIFOS, whereby we had an embargo on a property to cover the sum of money we had been awarded in court, however when AIFOS went bust, our embargo was cancelled and we had to pay more money to get on the Creditors list.
We have been on this creditors list ever since AIFOS went bust, so, how is it possible for other AIFOS buyers to still have an embargo ?
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This will sound stupid i know, but I need to get my head around this. Lets say Huma took 100 deposits of 50,000 euros each, and have now broken their contract because of no build completion. We all know they are still around and still trading, they will say that the deposit monies were towards the buying of the land, and the balance would have been towards the build of the property. Now in Thabernas there have been no completions, there fore breach of contracts on all. We also know that Huma as mortgages on most of the properties, and according to them no more money. Well they do have the land which we have paid for, so stuff the Spanish banks and what they are owed. Force Huma to sell the land, even at 50% below cost, and then force Huma to give back 50% of what they owe us. At least we will get something, Huma will have nothing and the Banks would have learnt an expensive lesson
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