18 month wait for appeal hearing

In April 2013 our hearing took place and the first Instance Court from Barcelona rejected our claim against La Caixa but our lawyer immediatetley appealed against the decision but now 18 months on we are still yet to even get a new date for the appeal court hearing. Is this normal.

Various court cases and decisions for our case since 2009, not to bore you with the detail but our last appeal was submitted March 2012 and the latest we have is that the appeal will be heard in September 2015!!

kelju

Outrageous. What a banana republic. Many will be dead before they get an outcome, plus skint from paying legal fees.

You are right many people will have died before any outcome.

It is now 9 years since i paid my deposits but i was only 37 at that time, many will have been OAP's looking to retire and will probably never see their money again.

I am in the same boat as you pff001.

As I am sure you are aware, our class action against the banks contain some 30 plus individual cases, but all slightly different from the next! I could be wrong, but I think this may be causing the problem - it certainly did first time in front of the magistrate [as he stated it] hence why he decided in favour of the banks.

You shouldn't compare cases, for may reasons such as what is fact, fiction or hearsay, but I will anyway. Finca Parks, I believe, all had identical cases so it was relatively straightforward for the magistrate to pass sentence. The interesting bit is that the appeal took just over 8 months to be heard followed then by a further month for that then to be thrown out - circa 9 months in total.

I share your frustration, like I am sure many others do in our class action, but as it has gone on for so long, do you pull out and 'go it alone' or just carry on waiting in the hope that it will be any time now.

My only concern is that the first magistrate decided in favour of the banks, so what's different in the next one doing the same!!!

I do believe the lawyers are fighting our corner though.

I can confirm that all 47 claimants in Finca Parcs Lawsuit 1 were in an identical situation.

This is a very important element of any Group Lawsuit.

With regards to timescales:

Deposits paid:  2004 to 2006
Lawsuit filed:  Feb 2011
Preliminary Hearing:  Jan 2012
Trial:  May 2012
First Instance Sentence:  Jun 2012
Appeal Date:  March 2013
Appeal Sentence: April 2013
Sentence declared Firm & Definitive:  May 2013
Principal refunds issued:  June 2013
Interest & Costs recovered & issued:  July 2014

Kind regards

Keith

So just over 3 years from filing the lawsuit. I am nearly into 6 years now from filing the lawsuit and still no date for an appeal.

Not all of the clients in our group action are in an identical situation and this worries me a little.

Thanks Kieth for sharing the detail of your lawsuit.

I acknowledge the time and effort you must have put in in trying to understand the Spanish legal system, so it does worry me when you say that a very important element of any group lawsuit, is that all claimants have identical cases -the only identical element with our group lawsuit is the name of the development!

At long last we have been granted a date for our appeal hearing.

Over 2 years since the 1st case.

Roll on 29th April 2015

So our appeal was 2 days ago and we now have to wait for their decision.

I hope its not going to take too long as the suspense is killing me but as per Keiths timescale below it could be a month.

Still waiting for the outcome of the appeal that was heard in April

Not sure if this is a good sign or not

Have you reported your circumstances re delays to your MP/ MEPs?

Have you checked with your legal team if these delays might be due to provision of additional documentation required by the judge (for example from outstanding Banking documentation and/or insolvency administrators perhaps) in order to achieve a final appeal ruling? Is there some technical legal holdup that can be identified by your legal team that you might be unaware of? Just a few thoughts!

It's important to gain information why and where the delay is occuring so as to bring this to the attention of those supposedly monitoring the legal system in Spain and to ensure that the rule of law is being safeguarded.

Good luck.

As more and more people fight for their rights relating to Bank Guarantees and now with new Supreme Court rulings being pro consumer giving purchasers hope for return of their deposited monies, it is even more essential that the time frames associated with gaining return of those monies and the prevelence of Bank appeals is tackled and highlighted to those responsible for safeguarding the rule of law in Spain.

I would therefore encourage all those who have been exposed to excessively lengthy legal proceedings and major administrative delays by the courts to highlight these facts (stating the region where the delays are occurring) to both your MP and MEP (www.writetothem.com) and stress that there is an urgent requirement for time constraints to be implemented and adhered to, if the rule of law is to be safeguarded in Spain.

As more purchasers are encouraged to fight for their rights according to ley 57/68 within the time constraint of 15 years, the situation re major delays will only be accentuated and this needs to be effectively addressed by all concerned.

It would certainly be of great assistance if lawfirms acting in clients' best interests bring this matter to the urgent attention of those responsible for ensuring that the rule of law in Spain is upheld.

Also the problem re consistent and timely return of interest and costs for those who have been exposed to excessive time frames for return of their monies, and/or inconsistent judicial rulings/contra legem rulings during this lengthy period  awaiting SC recognition of rights according to ley 57/68, needs to be highlighted and strongly fought for by the legal teams representing their clients.

Innocent offplan purchasers should not be subjected to inconsistent rulings and/or abusive court or judicial delays given the failure to address the need for timely return of their monies, and then find that they are made ultimately responsible for the costs to fight for their rights.

Just heard the outcome

We have lost the case against the bank

What do we do next and how much longer do we have false hope

Feel suicidal today 

So sorry to hear this pff001..

Can you provide more details,  for instance.....

What are the legal grounds upon which this case has now been lost? What reasons did the judge give for your appeal to be lost?

Did you have an individual BG or was there a generic BG in existence?

Did you provide proof of where your monies were deposited and was the link to developer account made?

Does your lawyer consider this might be a contra legem ruling against Ley 57/68? If so and if required, what does your lawyer plan to do in this regard to bring this to the attention of the General Council of the Judiciary in Spain? Does your lawyer consider that this is an illegal/inconsistent ruling out of line with recent SC directives?

Are the judiciary obliged to pay heed to recent SC directives or does this continue to be a legal lottery depending on region/judge/court?

Does your lawyer consider that inconsistent rulings are now compromising the rule of law in Spain?

Also.....

Where was the appeal heard and where is the Bank's head office?

Just a few thoughts, and I hope you can gain some clarification...

Take care.

Sorry to hear this news pff001.

You do have the right to file a Cassation Appeal to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court has issued a number of pro-consumer Sentences this year in favour of off-plan buyers according to the inalienable rights granted by LEY 57/1968. 

 

From memory I think the case referred to in this thread was a group action with over 30 claimants.  So the quantum value is probably over 600,000€.  Therefore any Cassation Appeal should be admitted by the Supreme Court. 

There is still a possibility that even with a lower quantum value a Supreme Court appeal may be admitted if the Supreme Court  believes the case has a 'cassational interest'.

My claim alone is in excess of 600,000 

We lost the case due to the monies not been deposited into a dpecial account

The court was in Barcelona