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Anymore news on the power cut offs at La Zenia
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Maybe I've missed something somewhere, but there is / was a development of c. 150 properties at the top of Benijofar that was sold by Atlas and to be built by TU.
Deposits were taken, building was to start, promises were made. But,
Deposits were spent, the build never started, promises were broken.
Does this sound familiar, folks?
As it stands, a small play-park and a few access roads stand where c.150 Spanish dreams were supposed to be.
Completion was set for 31.12.04, and almost 4 years later, there's nothing.
Amazingly, we still see Atlas mini-buses tootling around well-fed and half-pissed punters ready to be swap a non-existent dream home in the sun ... in exchange for their life savings.
How this has gone on for so long beggars belief. Let's hope some justice is seen to be done very shortly.
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It certainly does sound familiar. I bought on Colinas Del Lago, Los Balcones in 2003 for completion 2004. Still hasn't been started. We were offered alternative houses on another urb which still isn't finished so no Cert Of Hab and today 1st Sept OUR WATER HAS BEEN CUT OFF DUE TO NON PAYMENT OF BILL BY TECNOLOGIA. We were expecting it and have been trying to negotiate with Agualest. I thought it was illegal under EU law to cut off water supplies but hey what do the Spanish government care about EU law.
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Any news from what's happening to Spain's favourite builder?
Are they honouring ANYTHING thay they and Atlas said they'd do?
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Hi all,
My name is Kelly and I am working at a company called Studio Lambert on a documantary about British Expats in Spain. We have spoken to the those involved on Phase I and Phase II of La Zenia Elite but we would really like to speak to anyone who may have purchased on phase III or even beyond. If you have, or know of anyone that has, please get in touch. There is no obligation to be involved in the documentary at this stage, but I would love to have a chat about the situation there at the moment.
Please call 044 207 534 2016 and I will call you straight back to save your bill, or message me on here with your number and I will get back to you.
Thanks very much, I look forward to hearing from you and will happily talk more about the documentary with anyone who gets in touch.
Kelly
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From this week's Coastrider.
One year on – and still no further forward
Last year, the problems with builder, Tecnologia Urbanistica came to a head when the construction company began to default on payments, leaving tens of urbanisations unfinished in several municipalities.
Orihuela Costa was one of the localities to be worst hit by the demise of this builder, with many households loosing their electricity and water supply owing to the builder’s failure to pay the bills on time.
There were murmurings from Orihuela town hall at the time, with those in power stating they would seek a solution to the problem, but for residents of Bosque Lomas III, those were shallow words indeed. Nothing has changed, and in fact for some people, matters have got worse. Residents contacted CoastRider, one year on, and asked us revisit the Tecnologia debacle for fear their situation will be conveniently forgotten by the authorities.
Bosque Lomas III in the El Galan area of Orihuela Costa is perhaps one of the urbanisations to be worst affected by the downfall of Tecnologia Urbanistica. Only 70 of the urbanisation’s 130 houses were sold, and several are in a completely unfinished state. Weeds grow in abandoned gardens, and it is now the responsibility of residents to keep them tidy, or they become a magnet for fly tippers. Just around the corner is one of the worst eyesores in Orihuela Costa – an abandoned hotel complex which has been allowed to remain in a poor state and has devalued every property nearby.
Many Bosque Lomas III residents are still waiting for their deeds, none have habitation certificates, and they habitually loose their electricity supply. It’s a familiar tale for those people who bought Tecnologia homes, mostly through estate agent Atlas International, but these residents could not have tried harder to resolve their situation.
One year on – and still no further forward Between them, these people have had to find money to gradually clear a debt of 17,158€ to Iberdrola in order to receive electricity again, and a further 15,000€ to Aquagest to clear the builder’s water bill. In addition to this, they have also invested in work needed to finish the urbanisation, knowing that there is not a cat-in-hell’s chance of Tecnologia Urbanistica ever fulfilling its obligations. It could take years for these people to reclaim the money they have had to pay. Each household has also paid 50€ to have a ‘private’ electricity meter installed to prevent disputes when it comes to paying the Iberdrola bills which Tecnologia Urbanistica are legally obliged to pay, but don’t.
The urbanisation’s Vice President told CoastRider: “Tecnologia stopped paying the utility bills in June last year, and we had no choice but to start clearing their debts before receiving electricity and water again. We felt completely blackmailed. We then made moves to take over the payment of the bills, but that has not been without its problems. We have to physically go to Tecnologia in Torrevieja when the bills are due, collect them, and pay them. Iberdrola and Aquagest won’t send the bills directly to us because the contract is with Tecnologia. We have attempted to have the bills faxed to us by Tecnologia, but surprise surprise, we have never received a fax. Now, I have to read 70 electricity meters every month and work out how much each household has to pay. I then send letters to each householder, and then tie up payments made into the bank against each house, or chase late payers. It has become like a full time job, and while most of our residents have been supportive and understanding of this situation, I had to take the step recently to cut off the supply to a family who refused to pay.
Some of our holiday home owners don’t really understand fully why we’re having to do this.”
Despite all of this, just last month the electricity on the urbanisation was cut off, three days before the deadline for the October bill! Last week, the urbanisation was cut off again for what Iberdrola described as failure to pay the bill in July. The vice president told me: “We’re paying off the Tecnologia debt in staggered payments, so when we pay a bill we also contribute an additional amount for the debt. Iberdrola had failed to acknowledge that part of the money paid in July was for the current bill as well as the debt. I also asked Iberdrola to work out a rate per kilowatt for me to calculate the bills for each household, and when I asked about increases in the price of electricity, the same man who gave me the original rate denied having said it!
We have now had to resort to having every statement signed and stamped by the person who gives us information because we no longer know who to trust.”
The home of the vice president resembles a mini-office, and as a pensioner, she is now stuck with doing the work others are paid to do, and should be doing. She said: “I came to Spain to retire, not to do unpaid office work. Of course, somebody has to do it, but this could all so easily be sorted out if the town hall would just give the goahead to install proper meters. We have even been told the ‘private’ electricity meters we have are compatible, but we’ll believe that when we see it.”
A number of residents joined the vice president to meet me last week, and I asked them what they thought about the town hall’s contribution to resolving their situation. The belief in this urbanisation is that the town hall has done nothing to help, yet residents believe the town hall is ultimately responsible because they readily granted licences to this builder. They want to know what has happened to the bond money, and why it is not being used to finish the urbanisation. They also believe that the town hall has the power to instruct Iberdrola to install meters immediately. The vice president said: “It can be done. We know of people with meters but who do not have habitation certificates. It just needs someone in authority with the will to help us.” Matters would of course be easier if the Tecnologia, Iberdrola and the town hall were as efficient at doing their jobs as this vice-president but it is clear that despite having done everything that has been asked of them, and having paid through the nose for the privilege, nothing has moved forward. Now, these people do not know which way to turn. One man concluded our meeting with the remark: “We’re retired people and on limited incomes. We don’t have bottomless pockets to keep paying other people’s debts. All we want is our own meters. I get the feeling we’ll all be dead by the time this is sorted out.”
Rebecca Griffin |
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I really don't know how Technologia have managed to survive without going into bankruptcy.
_______________________
www.taylorlandandpropertygroup.co.uk
still here after all these years!
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I read the following letter in this weeks Coastrider newspaper and thought what is the point of having courts in Spain when their judgements are ignored.
To the Editor
We read with interest the article regarding the residents of Macarena II with pleasure that they have at last received their deeds. We know to our cost the problems of getting involved with Tecnologia Urbanistica. We agreed to purchase a property on Colinas del Lago on the road between Los Balcones and San Miguel in April 2003 for completion September 2004, paying 60,000 euros. By September 2004 there had been no movement on the site whatsoever. We paid numerous visits to the offices of TU and given lots of reasons why this had happened and were promised at each visit that work would soon commence. After the contract had run out we again went to visit TU and asked for our money back or to be given a property on another site for the same price but were told we could have our money back. We contacted their lawyers and heard nothing at all. We eventually took the company to court and we were awarded our money back plus costs but after 18 months this still has not happened. We would be interested to hear from other buyers on this site, to let us know if they have had their money returned or are they still in the same position as us. Our email address is:
joyceandgraham@yahoo.co.uk
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
We are Mr & Mrs Miles, Quesada
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The never ending saga of TU.
From this week's Costa Blanca News.
| Friday, 20 February 2009 |
Builder mortgages expats’ land
By Alex Watkins
A BRITISH couple have told CBNews of their ‘impossible, abhorrent situation’ after their builder took out a mortgage on the land which their house is built on.
Brian Jones and Carol Chipperfield bought the property at Residencial Colinas del Presidente, Orihuela Costa after an inspection trip with estate agents Atlas International in 2002.
Their builder was Promociones Internacionales Inmobiliarias Zenisol S.A which is part of Tecnología Urbanistica Group S.L.
However the promised deeds to the property were not forthcoming and after several fruitless visits to the offices of Tecnología Urbanistica in Torrevieja they became concerned.
They subsequently learned that in November 2003, a 29,000-euro mortgage had been taken out on the land with the CAM bank.
In April 2007 when they were called back to finally get their deeds in the notary’s office, to add insult to injury they were told there were penalties for late payments.
“We had paid each instalment to the Atlas office in the UK but they said a payment was 13 months late and we had to pay 3,584 euros in fees or we would not get our house,” said Mr Jones.
“I was shouting ‘this is extortion!’, but we signed very reluctantly.”
They agreed a clause in their contract that they would stop any legal action against the developer in return for which ‘the representative of the seller declares to be committed to cancel the mortgage charged against the property’.
However since then the mortgage has not been paid off and they have taken independent legal advice.
They were told unless they transfer this mortgage into their own names, the bank could potentially repossess their home.
There have also discovered an embargo levied by the town hall in May 2008 on the property due to a 45,584-euro tax debt in the name of the promoter.
Mr Jones said there is no way they would be prepared to pay such a sum for a house they have already bought.
The alternative is a lengthy court battle against a promoter they have been advised no longer has any assets they could lay claim to.
“My faith in the Spanish legal system was destroyed that day in the notary’s office,” lamented Mr Jones.
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The saga continues. I'm so very surprised that TU and Aroca (plus agents Atlas) haven't gone under yet.
My epic continued as I received my deeds about 18 months ago. Unfortunately, when I took them to my new solicitors (I gave Aroca the boot when they handed me my deeds) they checked and found that my nationality hadn't been included therefore the deeds were invalid. This was in July last year. You can imagine my fury as I had to go back Aroca to get them redone. They told me they could only re-present them after 90 days (don't know why, I was too fuming to ask). Upshot was, I went over a few weeks ago and finally (FINALLY after 7 years!!!) got my legal deeds to the property in BDL2. Gave them to my new solicitor who has checked them and said they now seem to be OK. Phew, what a relief. Cheeky Aroca told me they wanted another €704 from me which I refused and my new solicitors have told me I should not have to pay but, if they represent me against Aroca, it will probably cost that much, anyway.
Aroca also opened a cupboard which seemed to contain hundreds of files. They explained these were outstanding files of people who hadn't yet received their deeds and all had bought through Atlas/TU. Aroca gave me a self-congratulatory letter saying that "due to the hard work of Aroca and Atlas" they had finally closed this file. The cheek of it as I reckon they should have done it all in the first place.
Only thing I haven't got now is the Licence of First Occupation which Aroca reckons is held by the community administrators since we were put on mains water and electricy in March last year. Suppose I'll have another battle to get that before I can put the place on the market (not that it'll sell in the current climate).
The trouble is, who do I go to complain? I think we have exhausted all the routes and, without shelling out another fortune in solicitors fees, I don't know where we stand. The very disappointing replies from the Trading Standards in Dorking plus the shrug of the shoulders from the notary in Spain makes me wonder if anything else is worth it. Even Watchdog replied that this subject had been exhausted and they wouldn't be processing any more such stories unless they were done in general. Despite sites like this and articles in various Spanish/English papers, Atlas and Aroca still seem to be doing good business as the place was full of people being brought in to start the process. I might picket Atlas' next exhibition if it comes to my area,
Frustraion reigns and I hope everything gets sorted on BDL3 as a matter of urgency.
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There is definateley something fishy going on with these companies otherwise they would have gone under. I suspect Townhall involvment. Maybe one day it will all be sorted out .
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From this week's Coastrider newspaper (10/03/09). Seems like Atlas, TU and Aroca are all in it as always suspected.
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| Written by Mireille Toddington |
| Monday, 09 March 2009 12:43 |
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 Unfortunately, tales of dream homes turning into nightmare houses are quite common here on the Costa Blanca; houses without electricity, without adequate sewerage, without water, without permission, without deeds, without habitation certificates. However, these stories represent people’s lives, their dreams and very often their life savings. These stories are the lives of innocent people who are failed by the Spanish system and stand to lose everything they have through no fault of their own.
The latest victims to come forward are homeowners on Colinas del Presidente whose houses were built by a subsidiary of ailing property developer Tecnologia Urbanistica Group S.L a company whose demise seems to be leaving a trail of devastation across the Costa Blanca. These houses are the same as the ‘battenberg’-style properties on Macarena 2, also built by Tecnologia. However, unlike the majority of residents on Macarena 2 who now have their deeds and have had the builders mortgages paid (as previously reported) around 15 owners on Colinas del Presidente face an horrendous catch 22 situation – ‘pay Tecnologia’s debts or lose your home.’
Carol Chipperfield and Brian Jones had no idea of the heartache and stress their dream house would cause them when they bought it following an Atlas International inspection trip in 2002. By 2004 the instalments had all been paid in cash – no mortgage was required – and the house was all theirs, or so they thought. The first inkling that things were far from right came when the deeds to the property were not handed over. The situation dragged on until 2007 when the couple were finally given a notary date to receive the deeds to their home. Unfortunately, the notary meeting did not go as expected and the couple were told they would have to pay just over 3,500 euros to get the deeds to a property they had already paid for. Tecnologia levied these penalty charges for alleged late payment of instalments and although the couple dispute this they felt they had no choice but to sign.
Brian Jones said: “Everyone in the room was telling us to sign or we would lose our house – this included representatives from Tecnologia, Atlas, Aroca and even the translator. It was very intimidating and although I knew we had paid all the instalments on time and that this was tantamount to extortion, we signed the agreement.”
The couple have the Atlas International payment records, which clearly show the amounts paid and the dates on which the payments were made. However, the dates on the Atlas payment record do not match the ones provided by Tecnologia as evidence of late payment.
LOSING BATTLE
Brain, who has previously suffered a stroke, said the notary experience made him ill but unfortunately this was just a taste of things to come. The almost unbelievable tale that follows has so many twists and turns that it is difficult to know where to begin. Firstly it transpired that in November 2003 the builder had taken out a 29,000 euros mortgage on the land. This means that according to land registry records the land belongs to the builder. So despite the fact that the couple have the escritura (deeds) to their property they cannot sell it.
However, written into the terms of the escritura was a clause stating that if the couple did not pursue any legal action against the developer then the builder’s mortgage would be paid. Brian and Carol kept their side of the bargain, but of course Tecnologia did not and the mortgage was never paid.
On taking legal advice the couple have been told that to transfer the land registry records into their name they must accept the debt on the land as their financial responsibility. If they do not the bank could repossess the house to recover the debt, which is mounting all the time and is no longer being paid by Tecnologia.
In a final twist the couple have also discovered that there are tax bills of more than 45,500 euros on the property in the name of the Tecnologia subsidiary.
Carol and Brian’s only hope is that other homeowners in a similar position will get in touch and maybe as a group they could approach European parliament or look at a group legal action.
Carol said: “I can’t even describe how we feel and there does not seem to be any hope left at all. It looks likely that Tecnologia is about to go into liquidation and either we have to lose the house or take on the builder’s mortgage, which currently stands at around 23,000 euros.
“It is complete madness; we have proof of payment but were charged horrendous penalties and yet the builder was allowed to take out the mortgage after we had made substantial payments on that property. We have deeds to our property but cannot sell it. We have an escritura signed by a legal notary stating that the builder will pay the mortgage off, but that seems irrelevant. Our life is in tatters.”
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Tecnologia Trauma Leaves Lives Shattered
Monday, 09 March 2009
Unfortunately, tales of dream homes turning into nightmare houses are quite common here on the Costa Blanca; houses without electricity, without...
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Our Petition bears 700 signatures as of this morning, and will be handed in to Downing Street tomorrow. The full wording of the petition letter can be read here:
http://www.spanishpropertyscandalpetition.co.uk/7.html
I've tried to cover our problems as succinctly as possible, and only ask action from the Prime Minister that is clearly within his powers. When the petition goes to the EU in Brussels at the end of the month, it will of course be worded differently.
Many thanks to all who have submitted their experiences & signatures so far. For anyone who still hasn't signed but keeps thinking about it - sign today & make sure that the British government hears your voice. Our Petition will remain open, as it goes through the EU processes.
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Having spent 6 years trying to get our deeds we obtained them at the end of October 2009. We moved away from Aroca a few years ago and got someone else to represent us. It has been slow going (this is Spain after all) but we eventually made it. Court appearances, court orders and the hiring of barrister and solicitor (all of which is alien to us) proved our best shot. Going to court when you dont speak the language is the most daunting thing we have ever done. We now intend to sell up when we can as the whole experience has left a very nasty taste in the mouth.
Even going down this route we have had sleepless night a many and it has affected our relationship due to the stress but in the long run it turned out ok and we are grateful.
Our next stop will be Trading Standards at Dorking as those b******s at Atlas need sorting out. All they needed to tell us (and others) was to take out a small Spanish mortgate then the mortgage on the land would have been picked up and saved us all much heartache. They were only interested on their commision.
I really hope those of you that are still waiting get sorted soon but please denounce Technologia and get yourselves into the court system it is the only security you will have particularly if he goes broke.
Good Luck to you all.
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Please do write to Trading Standards in Surrey and everyone else you can think off to highlight your story. National Newspapers, BBC Watchdog, homes@itv , advertising standards and even Surrey Police if you feel that Atlas have acted outside the law.
We are horrified to see that Atlas are advertising their services once again on national TV whilst many people face a potential loss on off plan property, through Atlas, that may never be built. On their web site they write 'with an unbeatable way of life and booming economies, buying a property abroad through Atlas International will be one of the soundest investments of your life'. In our case it is proving to be the mostly costly investment of our lives! It is immoral that they can continue advertising their services.
We are taking legal action against the Developer who is in breach of contract & Atlas. However, we also feel very strongly that we need to highlight our story to warn others. We followed all the expert advice when we decided to purchase abroad. Our only mistake was believing Atlas to be a professional and ethical company who would honour their written guarentee(s) to us to secure all our funds.
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Several of us tried the Trading Standards route. Atlas were required to reply to us individually and all Atlas did was blame their lawyers.
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I got the same thing from Trading Standards in Dorking and the letter from Atlas. Nothing done except blame Aroca who, in turn, kept blaming TU (which I suppose was correct, in a way) when Aroca should have checked it all out properly in the first place. I can't recall the exact wording of my reply from Watchdog but it was something along the lines of "this story, and similar ones, have been covered many times in the past and we won't be taking up this particular story again." Or something like that. That was several years ago, mind. Atlas are definitely at fault here as they should have pulled out as soon as they knew something was up and to keep demanding money on properties they knew wouldn't be built just makes my gast absolutely flabbered! They stopped replying to my letters and e-mails a long time ago. Fortunately, my problem was sorted out but only after long and drawn out periods of angst.
I take it Atlas won't be getting many personal recommendations, then? It's all I can do to stop the good lady throwing bricks at their office windows and she still embarrasses me by hissing at the Atlas vans each time we see one (which isn't very often now, I must say). She even told one group being shown round by Atlas to get back on the plane and don't trust a word they say, which I just nodded mute agreement to.
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Hi,
I guess we are going down the same worn route as others. However, we do feel that we cannot just do nothing.
We are taking legal action against the developer and Atlas in Spain. However, we also believe that Atlas have acted outside the law in our case. Hence, we have now involved Surrey Police.
Today we have received calls from Trading Standards who are also going to review the information that we have provided them. We are also sending weekly emails to BBC Watchdog, Broadcasting Standards, Local & National newspapers in the hope that they will pick up our story.
We do feel very aggrieved that Atlas are actively advertising their services once again. They have also started to organise exhibitions. Although these are low key at their offices in Dorking, we do feel that we want to go and stand outside and warn other's to run in the opposite direction away from this company! You may see us on Sky News yet !!
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we also used atlas to buy a property from T.U using aroca solicitors in 2002 we had problems getting our deeeds atlas blaming aroca,aroca blaming atlas,sending letters e mail phone calls. visiting atlas aroca t.u offices .plus trading standards who told me that atlas are a spanish company and they could do nothing,they advised us to get aproperty lawyer. then we recieved a letter from aroca sayivg the builders morgage as been paid we now have our deeds .l hope FLY 380 AND EVERY ONE WHO HAS NOT GOT THEIR DEEDS GETS THEM SOON
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