Still Waiting.........

On Tuesday 20th October 2020 the Judge  scheduled a Final Hearing in our case against Banco Popular. 
In April 2005 we paid our initial deposit to Banco Pastor (who were subsequently taken over by Banco Popular) for an apartment that was promised to be completed by Christmas that year.

In June 2008 after a visit to the local planning department we cancelled the contract and engaged Maria at Costa Luz Lawyers to take up our case for the return of our deposit plus our substantial stage payment..

We were on the verge of selling our home to meet the cost of completing the purchase when, after the  visit to the local planning department, we discovered that all the assurances given by the builders of the imminent  handing over of our property were far from the truth. 

Funds (obtained via a charge on our home) that  we transferred to Spain in readiness for the move were swiftly repatriated and the legal process started for return of our deposit. We had had enough of the delays, excuses and downright lies from both the developer and our crooked lawyers who failed to obtain the promised ,and contracted, Bank Guarantee.

It has been a long, stressful  and expensive slog to get to this stage.
Our retirement plans were completely destroyed but we are now hopeful of a  fair and final judgement and most of all closure to the whole debacle.

And we are still awaiting a judgement on our case !

Hello Sandra

A typical story of the Spanish shambles of a justice system and total lack of consumer protection by Spanish banks. Clearly the deposit procedure on buying an off plan property or any property is flawed, however it still goes on today. The system for buying any property in Spain should be a maximum of €500 reservation fee held in a separate client account by a Spanish lawyer.

Sandra ..your post is a common problem in Spain ...I keep advising people time and time again .. don't buy of plan in Spain why on earth anyone would consider this leaves me speechless .. when you can buy a property cheaper that's already built it's extremely common in Spain for builders to go bankrupt before they Finnish the site .. leaving the buyer's to fork out yet more money to Finnish the building site ... that's if they get as far as far as picking up the keys..

In 2005 the financial risks of paying a deposit on a property without even owning a brick were not as clear as they are today. Brits thought the British justice system, bank guarantees, lawyers due diligence, applied worldwide. They were sucked in by glossy brochures, slick salesmen, lies, could not care less lawyers and banks who never intended to honour anything, Spain still remains a country of corruption and deceit but how do you ever educate the ‘’KNOW ALL WON’T BE TOLD’’.

Sandra,

I feel for you and I really don't think that  Spanish Lawyers fully comprehend the level of stress. I no longer trust any Spanish lawyers - it appears that they are so focused on their fees but don't appear to care about their clients. Without clients there is no business...so communication is a major factor here. 

Since handing my money over in 2004 I have been through a lot. I now know 'how things work', especially when your a lone female. Your ripe for being ripped off...again and again.

It  also makes me laugh that the conveyancing solicitor, who will regret signing contracts without doing the necessary due diligence, more recently has totally changed their attitude.....

Agents in Spain should be forced to give potential buyers a document about the problems that can occour in Spain. About as likely as finding rocking horse shit though. Brits seem to expect a certain amount of honesty. They should be aware that Spanish agents are at least twice as dishonest as British ones who themselves are not known for their veracity.

What could be done though, if campaigned for by somone like 'Martin Lewis' is that banks and finance houses operating in the UK be leant upon to give a fact sheet to everyone applying to transfer moderate to large sums of money to Spain and other countries.

Perhaps if enough of us wrote to Martin?

I was very lucky when I bought off plan, I chose a good lawyer who wanted to see the bank guarantees before she would release the money. Others on the same site got into trouble.

Some did not even employ a lawyer, a much better way of finding caca than looking under a rocking horse.

This message was last edited by tteedd on 25/02/2021.