Home demolished in Vera

It is appalling, but I still think they should be compensated being as they are the innocent parties.    But what happens to this poor couple now.  Pat

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To answer flying cat's question of how this could happen...

There are plenty of cases of this happening mainly created by greed and power,if a builder wanted to be on rustic land he would generally apply for it to be urbanised by the powers that be,at the time it would have been the local Mayor.

The builder would request building permission to be granted (along with a nice brown envelope stuffed with money) from the local authority and the with it firmly tucked in the top drawer of the mayors desk it would be granted.

Unfortunately for the buyer this was toatlly illegal and as it comes to evidence now not worth the paper it was written on(hence the fact that there are a lot of Ex Mayors now serving prison sentences).

What you have to understand is that Spain used to work on a cash system and still does to a point so a little bung goes a long way!!!

The Government has now removed power from the little man in office who is easier to bribe and you have to go through them to gain any permissions,also under the continued scrutiny of the rest of the world is now implementing a clean up to get it's house in order retrospectively.

This unfortunately means going back and tracing property illegally built and removing it.

They will not compensate because they take the opinion that all parties involved broke the law although in the buyers part unwittingly,the only recourse the buyers will have is against the agent or builder that sold them the property(a long drawn out court case no doubt).

Since the implementation of the new laws it should reassure prospective buyers although this may not be of any consolation to couples for are now suffering this horrendous fate.

In essence the spanish legal system has caused more harm by trying to put their house in order!!!!!

Please bare in mind as well that a majority of these illegal build were sold to the Brits by the Brits!!!!

The friend who i mentioned in a previous post recently won his case against the local Ayuntamiento to halt the demolition order and tyhen this was overturned by Valencia so he had to start again.

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Thanks Georgia for explaining to me.

When is the new law implementated? Does that mean buyer bought property after that date are save from such scandles?

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Yes thanks for that Georgia, I understand it now but I feel so sorry for all these people caught up in this as you said it's their health that suffers as well.   Regards Pat

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I believe, but stand to be corrected if this is wrong, that the only way to be absolutely sure is to have your architect or solicitor have everything verified by the Ayuntamiento; yes it is insanely time consuming but better safe than sorry. The architect we use has everything checked before we buy, we certainly lose plots by doing this but I take a view on that as anybody will have tothat goes down this path.

In the UK certainly and I would have thought in Spain that those affected have a case against the solicitor that acted for them. It is my understanding that solicitors have a duty of care, blatently ignored in this case!

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i would never ever say anyone is safe from scandal,you have to take due dilligence find a good lawyer and make the relevant checks,if checked in the right way you should remove the risk from any purchase.

Yes the rules are tighter now but you should always be aware.

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The swimming pool, garage and extension were on different building permits and are legal.
It is devastating to see what has happened to these people, and the locals are up in arms about it.

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Georgia couldn't have hit the nail harder on the head if he tried, the key to any property purchase is DUE DILLIGENCE. As a legal and registered agent in the area I always request the paperwork with all the properties that I take on. I am also having a house built at the moment close to Vera and understand that the procedures that are needed to take place to gain the planning permission, including local and regional level, which have so far taken 18 months before the build even starts I am quite happy for it to take this long, as long as everything is above board at the end. What with new roads and railway lines in the area purchasing inland can prove a game of roulette especially until they finalise the railway plans. I always try and advise as best as possible, and advise clients to ask their lawyers about the local plans etc. We also have these in England and they work on similar lines here in Spain. The local council will have a plan covering the town's urban and rustica land and new roads or anything else over the next few years, and Spain is similar. You can not build on green belt in the UK, and Spain is really not that much different. Always question why the land is so cheap, it is generally because it cannot be built on. I recently had a client who has a plot of land in Mojacar, and was asking for advice on what type of house that he should build there to sell on, as he was a 'property developer'. He'd bought it recently for nearly urban land prices, didn't use a lawyer, and now transpires that obviously it is rustica land, so it will possibly take him years to see the benefit of his investment or risk having the villa pulled down if he goes ahead with his plan. He had his profit blinkers on and has fallen at the first hurdle. I know it is difficult not to buy with your head and not your heart but sometimes I feel it can be the only way forward, again that phase crops up DUE DILLIGENCE. I really feel for the couple and I hope the gentleman makes a speedy recovery.

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Anyone see GMTV this morning? Top story. Hope something can be salvaged for these poor people.

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Didnt see TV this morning but have just read one of the free papers , we are in a similar situation to the these people (along with thousands of others), and how we feel for the Priors, what can we say , the situation of illegal Houses needs sorting out now , we all need to band together and find Solutions not Demolitions. It certainly makes you scared to go to the post office in case you have a demolition order waiting for you, well it does me.

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Flyingcat asked:- When is the new law implementated? Does that mean buyer bought property after that date are save from such scandles?

 

I read in the Daily Mail today that this law was introduced in 2002, however it was largely ignored by local town halls.   The news article also suggest that due to the pending local elections in Vera where the ruling party are an "Independent" group, that the "Socialist" regional government party may be trying to influence the local electorate.

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........a system run by sharks liars and cheats, and now even more out in the open. Who on earth would want to buy in Spain after reading this article?

Just an utter disgrace. I think the whole of Spain should revolt against this if they really want Spain to be thought of by the rest of the world as a decent place to live!!   Makes me feel sick every time i think of that poor couple, and many more in their position. There is no excuse for this inhuman behavior by the authorities.

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Hi Goodstich,

In defence of every honest person involved in the property market not all are low life scumbags.

Unfortunately the people who are corrupt and have caused this pain for these poor people would not even blink at the thought of their circumstances.

Fortunately for most these cases are a very small percentage of property purchase now in Spain,with the Thousands of expats now here in the grand scale of things demolitions orders are a reality for a small minority.

The Industry as a whole has changed over the last few years and i am pleased to say become easier to avoid these issues.

Unfortunately human nature dictates that unless you are wronged or suffer yourself then people will not revolt against something that does not directly effect them,harsh but true,i know your situation and feel for anyone that has suffered,it must take a strong person to keep battling away against the tide of incompetence you have no doubt faced.

I

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After reading the various articles in the British newspapers with reference to the Priors demoliton , in particular the Judge who said there is no such thing as innocent third parties .... I beg to differ with him ...... if I dare .....

Personally we were completely unaware that we had bought land and built illegaly , (until a year and a half later) surely our Spanish Builders knew the law ? and what of our bi-lingual Solicitor, obviously he did not know the Law (or did he ?), and the Esate Agent we used by the name of  Max Lorch, obviously he was the biggest con man of all time, and it wasnt just us he sold to !!!!

And as for the judical system in Spain lets just hope all of us sitting in illegal properties dont get the judge who says there is no such thing as the innocent third party, when our cases come up !!!! And as for our  Town Hall, you can see our plots if you look out of their windows ....... Oh yes I nearly forget the Notary ...... In hindsight many of us  who bought in 2002 and before , went through all the so called legal channels only to then find out that the legal channels turn out to be the wrong channels . The Priors story tells all, they had permission from the Town Hall, what more could they  have done !!!!  this isnt right, its digusting treating people like this,what can we do ??? It wasnt their fault, they must be devasted ......

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I do hope that you are wrong, Georgia, when you say that people won't protest unless it affects them directly.

I will. If people that are affected will let me know how I can help I will try my best. Should we write to our MEP, the Spanish Government,The Prime Minister or would it be best to start a fighting fund to try and fight it in the courts.

Surely if all member of EOS joined together then at least our voice would be heard.

Any ideas out there.

Gloria and Mike

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Janny

i think most would agree with you that it's a crap and corrupt system that allows this absurd situation to happen, let alone not get fast and full compensation.

gorgia

thanks for having some understanding of our situation, and i'm sorry if i appear to be tarring everyone with the same brush. Not my intention by any means, but we have to show this dreadful situation in its true light for those who are being treated in this discusting way by the Spanish authorities. The minority it may be, but i think the knock- on effect will hit everyone around the costa's. Unless real justice is seen to be done, the massive amount of bad publicity growing about Spain will just make a recovery even slower!  If Spain's incapable of sorting it's own house out, then what next? Is euro intervention the only way?  Is Spain hell-bent on financial suicide?, it's starting to look that way? 

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xetog

another thought, though it's fashionable to knock unions these days, they were formed for similar reasons, and at the time much needed  in my opinion. I feel if anyone in Spain, or involved in Spain in any way, does not help for selfish  or shortsited reasons, then ultimately they will only have themselves to blame when the rot effects everyone in some way, which i think it must do sooner or later without change. On another similar site to this there is a petition that we can all contribute to.  Perphaps Justin could help start something on here?

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goodstich-fair comment and beleive me know one wants the regulation more than the honest agents,if the system was secure then it would return confidence to the market place make everyones life easier... 

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goodstich44

Looks like maybe Euro intervention may be the way forward, but how many other houses will be demolished in the mean-time , something needs to be done now, we need a big strong person, with lots of influence to be in the forefront ... to make things happen !!!

and Gloria and Mike I think we need to write to all those people mentioned, bet the King of Spain  wouldnt be well pleased if he knew all that was going on  ......

and Georgia yes we have proof of "if it doesnt effect me then " ... but I still have faith !!! 

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good luck Janny,if you guys want to start a petition put me on the list........

I was talking to quite a prominent figure within political circles here yesterday and he feels there maybe a shift in power come the next election,whether they are any better,who knows,but we live in hope.........

Zapatero still seems to have no idea what is happening around him and he is supposed to govern the country.....

After his coffee price outburst he has lost face and touch with most of the residents....

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