San Jose into liquidation.

Sterling

Our completion date is also May 08, when I spoke to Ambasun a couple of weeks ago I was told that in any case there is a 3 month period that is added onto the May 08 date (leeway for SJ just in case there was a problem) so SJ are apparently not in breach with us until Sep 08.

I didnt know whether you knew were aware of this.

Christina

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Hi Christine,

I am aware of that clause but I think that by going into administration/liquidation and not building the promised development just maybe that is a 'breach of contract' after all ,it will still be the same situation in 3 months (or even worse) I'm sick of the whole thing, conflicitng advice, no news from SJ even my own solicitor hasn't been in touch. I told her the news about SJ!!!  You just don't know where to go or who to trust. Mariadecastro has given what seems to be excellent advice, but how do we find a lawer who specialises in minor court case law, a commercial lawer that deals with this sort of thing? I sent the link from this forum to my solicitor this morning and asked if she was able to act on my behalf of Shall I employ the services of another. It's seems whatever we do it's going to cost a lot of money, money we can't afford and for what seems to be a lost cause.

I don't mean to sound miserable but honestly that's how we, (all) feel I'ts so sad. SADM was going to be a fantastic place and I know there are people who have purchased 2 or 3 properties as investments, how much are these people going to lose. It's appalling.

 

 

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Every case is different and thewy may have different solutions but even though you may think of making a group of clients in same development and similar circumnstances and fight out and in Courts ( if that became necessary) together. That will make the procedure less expensive.

I do not want to say that you do not have a problem, but want to direct the spirits towards fight and optimism more than towards devastatation  or hopelesness. A good legal defence can make wonders. Those are not empty words.

Reaction!

Maria

 

This message was last edited by mariadecastro on 5/14/2008.

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Maria

We are employing your services, as you know, and i dont want to bring personal business into a forum area. 

I read  what you have just posted and ask you if the fees from here are to be more economical if you have a group of people taking up your offer of services?  If so do you wish to serve a group of people or individuals? 

In the UK we have a thing called a bankruptcy petition where the bankruptcy is brought by the creditor rather than the debtor being in control.

Is there is an option in Spain to do this and is it any good? 

I am wanting to establish if San Jose owns the land upon which the properties were sold, if its lawfull to sell properties without licence, how they managed to trade on these terms and perhaps if there is any liability with the banks.  Are they trading insolvently etc.  What standards are in place for trading, Spain is not a third world country.

In my case where the land (albatera) has no current development for the investors, is there any asset to secure on?

We are here at home in England and are absolutely sick to the stomach.  If they are solvent then they should be investigated for fraud, if insolvent then seize the assets. 

San Jose will lie and cheat and make things last as long as possible, as long as the situation favours them.  They will also dispose of assets and make further profits.

 

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Has anyone had success transferring their deposit to another San Jose property like Playa Golf?  Our Jumilla property was due for completion in June '07 and in Mar '08 we requested a list of other key-ready properties through PSI.  They said that they would send it to us.  We have been chasing this list since then and even spoke to PSI again last week.  They didn't give us any idea that the liquidation was possible but still sounded enthusiastic to help us transfer to another property.  Now we know they were just stringing us along.  We feel they are completely incompetent - couldn't even get our name write on the email telling us that the development was going into receivorship.

Also, has anyone looked into the possibility of taking a claim against PSI?  Afterall, they should have ensured that their clients (the purchasers) were protected with a bank guarantee.  Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't a lawyer supposed to ensure that the law is followed?  I certainly won't be giving them the 2,000+ euro that they have asked for to pursue our case. 

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Hi, this is the first time i have posted a reply and like everyone else am worried sick. We were purchasing at santa ana in phase one plot r-4  with a completion date of march 2007 .We also feel helpless and dont know which way to turn. We are reluctant to throw good money after bad and dont know who we can trust after trusting Amba sun and san Jose. Our solicitor is advising us to go straight over but to do what ? We have young kids and cant just go as well as the expence when we have just potentially lost thousands of pounds,what do we do ???????     san and kev

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With respect to all.  Can I suggest that posts that do not ask direct questions of Maria be posted on the Residencial Santa Ana del Monte pages.  I really do not wish to be rude or upset anyone but it is so time consuming for Maria to read all the posts.  To get the best from her kind offers of advice would it not be better to use direct questions.

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Hi, we also used ambasun and PSI and should have completed in june 07 at Jumilla, we find after numerous e-mails that we are getting little support from PSI i agree with the comments from cala that we have been poorly advised.

As we were informed on inspection trip byt Ambasun that they never use or take you to view properties/builders that do not have all paperwork in place, and that they use only repuitable builders.  Not the case

Why did PSI not provide information about San Jose aswe have found out from recent postings that this has been going on for years, surely they must do checks and they should be liable, why should we have to pay more money out to PSI

We are reluctant at the moment to proceed with PSI and does any one have any ideas who we could use or if we will receive a refund in full or are just wasting good money after bad as we do not have money to waste 

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I am new to the forum having joined specifically because of what has happened and the helpful advice Maria has been providing We purchased a villa (on R19)available through EPP (now Ward Investments) and not on general sale.  I must say here that Ward immediately informed us of the situation at San Jose.  The completion date is May 2009 with a 3 month extension period (as is common practice).  We DO have a bank guarantee.  It is written into our purchase/sale contract complete with details eg. passport number etc.  I have today emailed our Spanish solicitor with some questions mainly based on process and timescales.  If San Jose have to go into liquidation what is the process in respect of the bank guarantee?  And if they are able to re-negotiate their debts etc and continue to trade am I correct in that we would have to wait until Sept 2009 to claim back our money under their breach of contract if the villa was still uncompleted?

I am told that San Jose are at an advanced stage of negotiations to secure lines of credit and that work should recommence at El Pinet shortly with SADM following thereafter.  Maybe we should take a cynical view of this but it could be true......

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PSI have over 200 Amba sun clients that are obviously trying to reclaim deposits or find an answer.

Something that may be of intetrest is that if the developer does go into liquidation and the properties never complete then commissions can be claimed back by the developer from the agent,in essence this means that the large agents could be forced to pay back on average 4 million euros in commission.

It doesn't take much to figure out what will happen to the agents if they are forced to find this amount of money.........

I sympathise with everyone in this situation and this is just another nail added to the coffin of Spanish new build real estate.

As someone who has worked here and knows the development well enough i am suprised so many people purchased property without firstly seeing the licence and secondly taking someones word for it that it existed,with a project of such a huge scale licence issues were always going to slow the process and restrict build and completion.

I wish you all the best and hope you all get compensated..........

 

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Fredhead:

Chech out that you really have a Bank Gurantee. In many occassions it is written in the contract that you have it and you do not have it at the end.

Please find some other answers here below in bold green:

If San Jose have to go into liquidation what is the process in respect of the bank guarantee? Same process as  if not in bankruptcy as that money is secured precisely through that, the bank guarantee.  And if they are able to re-negotiate their debts etc and continue to trade am I correct in that we would have to wait until Sept 2009 to claim back our money under their breach of contract if the villa was still uncompleted? Correct.

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Maria,

After having paid my 30% deposit in June 06 I never received any response from San Jose that they had received my money. After pressing my agent, Frontline, i eventually got a response from San Jose in Oct 06 on email (which I still have a copy of) saying that they had indeed received my deposit and they also stated the property type and plot number R10 that the payment was for. Given that the majority of properties are still at ground / foundation level isn't there a case to say that I have paid for the land that this plot is on and perhaps the foundations (not to mention all other investors who have paid their deposits and had their plot's referenced in their contracts) ?

Also what are the odds of another developer buying the development as it stands (albeit at a knock down price) and then proceeding to complete the work in the knowledge that there are buyers already committed to the development ?

 

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Hi Everyone,

My parents bought through Amba Sun also. They bought on Jumillia 3 years ago and it seems everyone who bought there is in the same boat. They went over recently to see if they could transfer to a key ready property. My uncle has bought over there and knows agents at Pink Property. They said to my parents that San Jose will probably show them Playa Golf Development and sure enough that it what they were shown. The other agents said they do not show people any houses on that development because just down the side of it is the local sewerage site! Its kinda hidden but you can see it. They asked the agent showing them around about the site and he acted all surprised saying he knew nothing of it. They then spoke to an english lady in the house across from one they were shown and she confirmed there is a sewerage site! She said it can smell sometimes and this was last month they were there. She also said most of the people there are renters because they cannot shift the properties.

My parents do have a solicitor and advised her of this. They have refused to take a property there and they actually asked for a place on El Pinet. They went to see El Pinet and I was there with them at this stage. The guy showing us around said yes they had places still to sell and we went into a key ready one but when my parents solicitor said to San Jose we want a place there they denied that any properties are left. This is a lie as we saw what was left and there own agent confirmed a week later to my parents that he had "held" the one they wanted.

There planning on going to court to get there money back and hopefully never deal with San Jose again. Has anyone asked there solicitors to all contact each other and try and get a group action against San Jose?

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Hi Everyone. I have just had this from San Jose today

Orihuela, 15th of May, 2008  Regards Christina & Robert

The companies San José Inversiones y Proyectos Urbanísticos S.A.
and Herrada del Tollo S.L have applied for Voluntary Administration
proceedings before the Mercantile Court of Alicante, last Friday (9-05-2008).

The purpose of this procedure is to:

d.
Protect the assets of San Jose.
e.
Protect the clients’ deposits.
f.
To ensure the continuation of the Projects (El Pinet and Santa Ana del
Monte)
The above action was required to ensure that we the company are able to
continue with these two ongoing projects. The well reported “credit crunch” in
the finance industry and its effect on the construction business has affected our
cash flow which has restricted progress on these two projects.

As a consequence Voluntary Administration proceedings were considered
as the best financial alternative to overcome the present situation and
guarantee the future of both companies.

Both Companies can confirm that the down payments paid by each client
are fully recognised by the courts; they acquire the conditions of creditor and
are protected under the law. The court will send a personal communication to
each client in order to confirm the down payments made.

The board of directors of San Jose convey their deepest apologies for any
inconvenience which this action might have caused and will continue to work
with all parties to reach a solution as soon as possible.

We will be informing all concerned how the procedure progresses and any
subsequent changes to the schedule for the projects.

The Board of Directors

San José Inversiones y Proyectos Urbanísticos S.A.

Herrada del Tollo S.L.

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Jim:

Comments below in green:

 

Maria,

After having paid my 30% deposit in June 06 I never received any response from San Jose that they had received my money. After pressing my agent, Frontline, i eventually got a response from San Jose in Oct 06 on email (which I still have a copy of) saying that they had indeed received my deposit and they also stated the property type and plot number R10 that the payment was for. Given that the majority of properties are still at ground / foundation level isn't there a case to say that I have paid for the land that this plot is on and perhaps the foundations (not to mention all other investors who have paid their deposits and had their plot's referenced in their contracts) ? Yes, you can deffend your credit of course

Also what are the odds of another developer buying the development as it stands (albeit at a knock down price) and then proceeding to complete the work in the knowledge that there are buyers already committed to the development ? Your rights will have to be respected in the transmission of the development ( if that happened to a new company), you will have your say there of course.

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Does anyone know which court in spain is dealing with this bancrupcy claim ?

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I believe it is Alicante.

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I would just like to express my thanks to Maria.

This lady has been giving excellent advice to us all. She has done her best to give precise and straightforward information in situation that has seen most of us in a state of panic, not knowing which way to turn. Maria obviously has nothing to gain from doing this and makes me realise the reason I love Spain and the Spanish people so much.

THANK YOU MARIA.

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I have just out the followng email:

Dear...

This email is for those buying a property in Spain from the developer San Jose, such as on the development Santa Ana Del Monte in Jumilla.

As you may already know, San Jose this week applied, voluntarily, for court protection against it's creditors.  They blame the credit crunch and market conditions for their demise.

This now means that anyone who has put a deposit down on an off plan property through San Jose essentially has to join the creditors list to try and get their money returned.

We know most people don't even have bank guarantees so this is particularly worrying for them.

This is going to be a long and complicated process with no guarantees of success.  At this stage we don't yet know the actual state of the finances at San Jose but group action is now called for to try and recover as much as possible from the developer.

Now, we have received many emails from worried people this week in total disbelief that they could lose all their money here.  So, with a couple of contacts of mine we went to see the UK law firm Irwin Mitchell yesterday (www.irwinmitchell.com).  They are a huge company with huge resources and with huge experience in these cases.  We went to see them to see if they could apply their formula to this case.  They have branches in Spain.

They have agreed to hold a meeting next week to explain to people what the situation is, what the options are and what action they propose.

They explained that there are essentially two groups of people here:

1.    Those with bank guarantees may find themselves in an easier position
2.    Those with no bank guarantee may find themselves in a difficult position

They have set a provisional date for a meeting in their offices in Birmingham on Wednesday 21 May 2008.  They need to know how many people would be interested/ are able to attend.

This is a very serious issue and this is a good opportunity to meet other people in the same situation and to ask questions as a group to these lawyers who have been through this before.

You need to register your interest by filling in the form TODAY at:

=> Fill in the form

Even if you can't attend but would be interested in joining in with this group action then please fill in the form TODAY.

=> Fill in the form

Your details are totally confidential and will only be used but Irwin Mitchell lawyers to contact you.

I hope you can attend the meeting.  I am very pleased that this company is willing to take on this case as they know how complicated it is dealing with so many individuals, each with their own unique circumstances.

In the meantime you can also see the discussion about this subject on the general forum on Eye on Spain.

I wish everyone the best of luck with this and if there is anything I or my team can do to help then please just shout.

By the way, in case anyone is wondering, we are not getting anything out of this personally.  I am just trying to help as an independent party.  I just wish there could be more we could do to help. 

Best regards

Justin Aldridge
www.eyeonspain.com


This message was last edited by EOS Team on 5/16/2008.

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Sterling:

Thanks so much for your kind words. That is what we try to bring to the sphere of british people living, buying, renting, holidaying in Spain. The best of the Spanish essence with an acceptable ( always improvable) customers care and proffessionalism. It is not easy, it takes lot of work and energies, but it is worth it and it is bringing quite a lot of work to us and incomes to employ people and offer even better services... it s quite an adventure. But we di want to restore faith in our country.


Justin:

Even when no mentioned before, as you know we are very scrupulous towards not explicitly self-promote our services in the forum, I want to offer our hand here now that some Law Firms are explicitly showing their availability for action:

We will also be able to help in this situation. We have got an expert in Commercial Law in the Law Firm with good expertise in Bankruptcy and an accurate and effective legal tool to protect the not guaranteed money of off plan purchasers.  He has acted in several bankruptcies before

I hope this not contravene the forum rules.

Our contact details are in our website below.

WIth all my respect,

Maria

This message was last edited by mariadecastro on 5/16/2008.

This message was last edited by mariadecastro on 5/16/2008.

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