TECNOLOGIA URBANISTICA

The pressure continues to be put on this ROGUE TRADER by the media. Hopefully there will be a good turnout at Orihuela City Townhall on 27th November. This article from this week's Coastrider Newspaper.

PSOE out in force for second Tecnologia meeting
The PSOE opposition party last week held a second public meeting for residents affected by the developer, Tecnologia Urbanistica. This time, the party’s mayoral candidate in the last municipal election, Councillor Antonia Moreno, was at the Asturias Restaurant to lend her support to the many residents whose lives have been blighted by this builder.
PSOE opposition councillor for the coast, Rosa Martinez, was able to announce to the audience that she had held a successful press conference earlier in the week, which attracted the attention of the Spanish press, radio and television in Orihuela. One Spanish newspaper used a photograph of Councillor Martinez with residents who live in and around the Bosque Lomas urbanisations in Las Filipinas, one of the areas worst affected by Tecnologia.
Councillor Martinez also held a meeting with Partido Popular (PP) Councillor, Jose Aniorte. She reported that Councillor Aniorte had said that all the problems will be sorted out within two months. He is also understood to have said something along the lines of - we are a new council, give us a chance. Councillor Martinez questioned why the need for more time, when Councillor Aniorte had been PP councillor on the coast, albeit with a break in between, for some seven years.
The expatriate contingent of the PSOE Party had also been working solidly on the Tecnologia problem in the two weeks since the first Asturias meeting. A database of all urbanisations affected by this developer has been set up and over the coming days and weeks, the PSOE Party has promised to make a personal visit to each one. Gerry Bird, who is liaising with English speaking residents on this issue, reminded the audience of the Partido Popular record on the coast. He said: “The PP have accepted all building proposals over the last 21 years.”
Mr Bird went on to talk about the legality of Tecnologia placing mortgages on people’s homes when customers had paid cash for their properties. He said: “Under Spanish law, what Tecnologia have done is legal. The developer has got you to sign a contract and at the time they sign your deeds over to you, they have to clear the mortgage.” I learned after the meeting that a good solicitor would ensure the customer has a contract that contains a specific date by which deeds will be signed over.
Following a question about the role of Atlas and their recommended solicitor, Aroca Seiquer, Mr Bird said: “You have to have a fully independent solicitor. We would recommend that as many people as possible hire an independent solicitor, preferably in Orihuela. You can also think about hiring your own administrator – don’t let the builder recommend one for you. A good administrator could be very useful to you in this situation. Finally, for those who are unhappy about the role of Atlas, we would suggest that you write to the Trading Standards Office in Surrey, which is where Atlas have their headquarters.” He concluded his speech by saying: “We can seriously damage the image of the Council, and we intend to invite the British press and television to cover this issue, because we have suffered for so long.”
David Lawrie, the PSOE’s transport expert, read a letter the PSOE Party has written to UK Trading Standards detailing the scale and nature of complaints of those people who bought Tecnologia homes through Atlas. The Party warned Trading Standards to expect letters from many individual homeowners. He added words of encouragement, saying, “Please get on and do it – we will support you.” Mr Lawrie also launched a new Party newsletter, entitled “Orihuela Losta”.
The audience received confirmation that paperwork handed to the PSOE by residents of other municipalities has been passed to PSOE colleagues in those municipalities, and to the representative for Vega Baja in Valencia.
Councillor Antonia Moreno concluded the meeting by saying: “Every time my colleague Rosa Martinez comes back from the coast, she does so full of emotion. We are just normal people with normal jobs who within a short time have come into politics because we could not stand what was happening to the coast. This is where we were brought up, grew up and where we had children. Some pirates have made a profit out of this place.”
Councillor Moreno added: “We can do several things here. Politically in our work as the opposition party we will publicly denounce a case every week, detailing the problems to be solved.
Together, all of you should get an independent lawyer.
We want all of you to join us at the doors of the Town Hall in Orihuela City on Tuesday 27 November, each of you with a banner containing the name of your urbanisation.
This is the day of the Council meeting – everybody will be there and we will try to get the national press to come along. At that moment, the mayor, Monica Lorente, will ask you to be patient.
The PSOE Party will give the mayor and the PP two months of patience, and then we come back again, and again, and again.”
“People from Europe have brought with them good examples of positive citizen action and democratic rights. We don’t understand why you have waited so long to ask for those rights when for years you have given us so many important lessons. Now it is time for us to join together and fight. When you realise you are a strong power, the next mayor of this municipality will be in your hands. The PP knows that, and this is why they make civil rights difficult for you.”
The PSOE had originally talked about individuals making the journey to Orihuela for the Council meeting on 30 October, however, Councillor Moreno said: “We need more time to make individual visits to each urbanisation.” Individuals who wish to make a protest outside the Council offices in Orihuela are asked to be in the City at 10.30am on Tuesday 27 November.
For further information about the PSOE campaign to deal with unfinished urbanisations, please contact Gerry Bird on 699 485 706 or David Lawrie on 638 901 004 or email psoeorihuelaonthecoast@gmail.com
To obtain the Trading Standards Office address, go to the PSOE Party website at psoeorihuelaonthecoast.blogspot.com
R Griffin

I was in a meeting yesterday with a very high standing member of the banking and financial community,we talked about thye current property climate and he laid down his fears for several builders and their financial status.

In short he named 3 builders that will inevitably fold and declare bankruptcy within the coming months.

All 3 builders have large developments in all stages of completion and although i do take everything with a pinch of salt i respect his opinion.

For the sake of the forum and legal reasons i cannot name names but i think i am on the right track here.

Georgia

You are Georgia - a few down this way going to take a heavy tumble. Its inevitable really and will shack the wood from the trees.

Its unfortunate but its a hard life and its survival time!

Hi All,

I can go public with one name as it has just appeared in a local paper as a press release.

Llanera(sponsor of Charlton Athletic FC) have just declared bankruptcy with debts of €700 million.

They have developments at Caravaca so anyone who has bought there i would get on the phone.

Georgia

Its been in al the main news as well - what fun you miss when you are in the UK!

Do you know what other developments they are involved in as (and I know Im being a pain) if they were listed then prospective owners would hopefully be forewarned?

Sorry

Fly380,

I would start counting the days(alledgely).

Lets hope Atlas break the habit of a lifetime(allegedly) and keep their promises.

Good luck,this sorry affair has stretched on too long.

The only good thing to come out of this is that TU may take some of the rogues with them(allegedly) of course!

Georgia

Hi More,

Thanks,guesss my friend at the bank was telling me of the news late on Llanera and maybe early on the other two then!!

Fasten your seat belts!!!!!!!!

georgia

I guess effectively when you finally completed there should have been no builders mortgage on the property as your funds should have cleared it - Fly have you actually completed on the proprty - sorry but under this posting I can only see the last few posts. If you have then surely at Notary this should have been sorted out as well!

At the very worst you should have some recourse against the agents and the lawyer as well!

Ohhhh how naughty!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So are your names on the title deeds? Do you actually own the property?

That's Atlas and TU all over!!!!!!!

The trouble is they get so big they think they are beyond reproach.

The annoying thing is you still see their cars driving around full of blissfully unaware victims.

Obviously the news is not filtering through!

Fly - from the Cam bank you should be able to get hold of the details I need to get a nota simple - this will say who the current owner is although if you havent been to notary then I doubt its you.

Did you give yout lawyer power of attorney?

If you can find out the following details I will see if I can get a nota for you.

Finca number, Folio number, Tomo number, Libro number and the registry name.

No promises but will try and then you can see who actually ownes it and what charges there are on it

An everyday story of a bad developer. From this week's Coastrider Newspaper.

Elderly lady becomes latest victim of Tecnologia Urbanistica
Last week I interviewed an 84-year-old lady who was left without electricity from Monday lunchtime until Thursday afternoon, thanks to the failure of Tecnologia Urbanistica to pay its electricity bill on time.
To protect the identity of the lady, who is frightened to be named publicly, I shall call her Emily. Her story is similar countless others I have heard recently, but she is the oldest person so far to be affected by the antics of this developer, and she lives in El Chaparral, Torrevieja.
Despite living in her Tecnologia bungalow for nine years, she is still has no certificate of habitation, is on builders’ supply, and endures power cuts every two months when the developer fails to pay the bill. The power cut she had to endure last week was the longest one yet, forcing Emily to live by candlelight and wash in cold water for three nights. Emily told me that the regular power cuts usually last a few hours, although the one in July lasted for two days.
This elderly lady is now also very concerned that she will lose her home because of recent news reports and rumours, a fear held by many Tecnologia homeowners who are uncertain about the financial stability of this developer.
With the winter months now setting in, Emily’s real fear is that a further power cut will happen again in December. Already, Emily has her heating on at home in the evenings, due to her age and her arthritis. She also suffered a stroke and had a hip replacement operation in recent years which makes her more vulnerable to the cold, and let us not forget, she is 84 years old.
Neighbours came to the rescue during this most recent power cut, and moved as much of Emily’s freezer contents as they could into their own. They also provided Emily with flasks of hot drinks, and made hot food for her. Emily’s neighbour explained: “The whole block of bungalows and apartments was affected, but many of the other residents had somewhere else to go, or at least a car to get them out of the cold and darkness. Emily doesn’t drive. We helped as much as we could, but even though we took a lot of her food to put in our own freezer, she still had to throw a lot of it away.”
Emily confirmed this. She said: “Neighbours help me with my weekly shop as I don’t have a car, so I stock up well. The fridge and freezer started to smell and this morning I cleared both of them out with the help of a neighbour. I think I must have lost about 100 euros worth of food.”
This 84-year old lady relies heavily on her television, saying: “It goes on in the morning and I have it on all day, sometimes just as background noise. I was lost without it.” Emily also enjoys reading, and couldn’t even do this over the three day power cut as candles proved to be too dim, and too dangerous to keep next to the bed. Neighbours have ruled out the use of a gas-powered heater, as these, too, can be dangerous if not monitored properly.
Emily’s close neighbours were so concerned for their elderly friend, they got in touch with the PSOE Party in Orihuela, who are campaigning to put right the trail of destruction left behind by Tecnologia Urbanistica. While Emily does not fall under the Orihuela municipality, the team at the PSOE were also very concerned about her situation, and contacted the English speaking press. The PSOE team is also passing information of this latest abuse to their PSOE colleagues in the Torrevieja municipality.
Gerry Bird, the PSOE Party representative responsible for collating information about unfinished urbanisations on behalf of the opposition party said: “We have passed this case to our colleagues in Torrevieja, and we also hope the PP led council there will react strongly and appropriately. As yet, the PP council in Orihuela has failed to do anything, leaving their citizens with no other choice but to ask the PSOE opposition party to help them tackle the numerous abuses of this developer. It is unacceptable that people are forced to live in this way due to the dubious practices of Tecnologia Urbanistica, and other developers.
In Orihuela Costa, developers consistently get away with this type of practice because the PP led council allows it to happen. I sincerely hope for the sake of this elderly lady that the PP councillors in Torrevieja act swiftly, and unlike their fellow PP party members in Orihuela, put the interests of their citizens first.”
I wrote to Torrevieja Council on Friday, to alert them to the situation, and to ask what the Council can do to ensure this 84- year-old resident does not have to go through this experience again. I expect a response over the coming week, owing to Friday falling on a bank holiday.
Emily is one of a growing number of people affected by Tecnologia Urbanistica who are now coming forward to make their situation known. Like most people, Emily is fearful of reprisals and therefore reluctant to reveal her identity publicly.
Without the hefty sums of money required to employ a solicitor to sort out this mess, Emily feels isolated and alone. All she wants is to know that her home is safe, to obtain her certificate of habitation, and to pay her own electricity bills.
Having washed in cold water for three days, Emily was looking forward to having a hot shower, and being able to cook for herself again. She already had her heater turned on.
Her neighbours told me: “Emily has heard all sorts of rumours and reports, and now genuinely thinks she is going to lose her house. If she has to go through another power cut in the winter, this developer and the authorities could have more than just a number of very cold and fed up individuals on their hands - this could prove to be a lot worse.”
Residents affected in a similar way to Emily by the developer Tecnologia Urbanistica, or other developers who have left urbanisations unfinished, can contact the English speaking representatives of the PSOE Party. Gerry Bird can be contacted on 638 901 004, or David Lawrie on 699 485 706, or email psoeorihuelaonthecoast@gmail.com
The PSOE opposition party in Orihuela are only able to formally denounce practices that take place within their own municipality, however, as in Emily’s case, party representatives are passing information and case studies to colleagues in other municipalities. Recently, the PSOE Party sent a letter to UK Trading Standards in Surrey, to highlight the concerns of many people, from all municipalities, who had bought Tecnologia homes through estate agents, Atlas International.
R Griffin