Property Purchase has gone wrong!

It seems to me that the key here is who pulled out of the sale?

If the seller pulls out then any deposits paid by the buyer are due back to the buyer

If the buyer pulls out the seller keeps the deposit

On our contracts if the seller pulls out they pay back double the deposit 

Not sure that holds water tho Tadd.  If an agent advised to place a deposit and then it turns out your buying a property that's not right for purchase, you have to pull out. 

Then you get back the deposit or sue the agent. 

Yes the contract says that they have to pay us double but the agent seems to think we both have an argument. The question is when did the contract Fail?  

At the beginning when this agent crooked you the following from the agents website, use it you have them bang to rights

OUR PEACE OF MIND PROMISE

Should a client wish to proceed with the purchase of any property we list, no deposit will be taken until the paperwork has been checked by a lawyer of their choice

Lisa.   When do you think the contract failed. 

I only have knowledge of English contract law but if I apply those principles then it failed when the property couldn't be provided to us 30 days after the contract was executed. And this failure was down to the property being incorrect on the paperwork.  We waited almost 3 months for the paperwork to be sorted out, and even then it had "errors" that we would sort out when registering the property.  The biggest error was that the size of the plot reduced by nearly 6000sqm

Then the contract failed because the seller didn't provide what's on the contract.   The contract is only what's contained in the document, nothing else matters.  

If the sale is not the contract description, the contract is broken.  

Cant understand why you don't take the very first option and make a formal complaint.  Build up from there.  

Isn't it part of the purchaser's lawyer's due diligence to ensure that any monies deposited by the purchaser is held in a client account for safe keeping until such time as all contract details are agreed and the sale is completed? So did the purchaser's lawyer request timely transfer of those monies from the agent and was this request denied? 

Was the purchaser's lawyer an independent lawyer?

OK.  The saga continues ............. I have more or less done the complaint, following the information requested on the form, but putting it into letter format.  I have also printed off the emails to support my complaint. 

I have now been told that as the sellers have informed us that they are commencing court action, that we cannot continue with our complaint and have to wait until the outcome from the Court. 

We have agreed with our lawyer, who has been very good and I have no issues with her work, that she will not act for the litigation of this matter, as she does only conveyancing and non-contencious property work.  If we have to obtain the services of a litigation lawyer, then we will do so - but dont wish to start paying out at this stage. 

So back to my question - can a complaint be registered whilst court action is in progress. 

Thanks

That sounds like a very rubbish statement to me Lisa.

You can make a complaint at any time, there is nothing stopping you, your not in some banana republic state!

Im curious as to what grounds the seller is taking you to court about.  If the agent has taken a deposit it suggests to me he is acting on your sellers behalf.   If it's gone pear shaped they should be suing them, shouldnt they?

Can't see how you have done much wrong.   Send Maria (costa luz)  a PM about it, if you need a lawyer to represent you you may wish to think about it now before the other party gets any upper hand?

I couldnt see how that was right, because we havent seen anything and just had an email from their litigation lawyer, claiming that they are going to commence proceedings.   I did think - that was abit odd, as anybody could prevent a complaint just by making that sort of statement. 

They can enjoy reading my complaint next week, and I am sending it to get translated by a friend who isnt a trained translator but is fluent in Spanish/English

The agent is sitting the middle with his hands in the air getting splinters in his ar*e as he sits on the fence. 

He is not prepared to give us the money back as the seller wants the deposit, saying that we have breached the reservation contract, which brings us back full circle!!! 

OK, well I may sound a bit biased here, but lets hope the splinters fester and fester, and we end up with one less agent to deal with.

Only about 10 thousand to go eh ha, good luck, let us know how you get on.

(dont forget to ask a local lawyer if you feel its getting out of hand)

"I have now been told that as the sellers have informed us that they are commencing court action, that we cannot continue with our complaint and have to wait until the outcome from the Court."

Lisa, it would help in future posts if instead of saying "I have been told" you said WHO has told you something. It seems to most of us that most of what you " have been told" is rubbish, but without knowing who is telling you what, it's difficult to comment.

Having said that....You have been told 😉 by several members several times that you need to complete an official complaints form supplied by the agent in his office. And your complaint against the agent surely has nothing to do with a seemingly groundless court action against you by the vendor?

LoopyLisa:

First time I am reading this thread now.

I would need to see your deposit contract for the most certain answer.

What are they claiming in Court?

Let us know how you get on Lisa

Roberto   I was given advice by somebody who was living in spain and has also had personal experience of helping a family member recover money from a developer. It is different I know but they had complaints which the relevant authority wouldn't deal with until they had completed the court action, it was a class action but I don't know if that makes any difference.  They had lots of false paperwork and it was, in lots of ways,  very different to this.