22 Sep 2011 1:06 PM:
the summary of our sad affair is that we agreed to buy off plan in December 2006 and were told apartment would be ready 18months to 2 years. We paid over 40% but then did not hear any more and they would not 'talk' to us and insisted they would only speak to a solicitor. Our spanish solicitor told us we had 6 or 7 good points and were very hopeful of a settlement but we had to wait for 2 years for it to go to Court. Then a year ago the apartment was build but our Solicitor said that would not make a difference and we still had a good case against the builder.
Over 2 years later it went to 'Pre-trial' which we were told was just a formality for both sides to agree what the case was about but it appears that it was really a trial and our side was not taken into consideration. We have now been told by our solicitor that we have to pay the full price of the flat plus 18,000 euros of the builder's court costs and we know that the apartments are going for less than half the price they want but if we don't pay they will directly execute any assets. Problem is since putting the deposit down our circumstances have changed dramatically and we are now both retired on health grounds and do not have the money so don't know where that leaves us. We are hoping our Solicitor will phone today but gather from her e-mail that if we appeal it would be another 50% of the cost of the claim. My only glimmer of hope is that I remember reading that there was a court case last year in Totana and the Judge ruled that it was illegal for the builder to keep 40% of the deposit when the parties could not complete and they could only keep 9000 euros against the 63,000 euros the builder was tryiing to hold on to. to be honest, even if we lost the whole deposit that would be better than them coming after our house in the UK and forcing us to buy the apartment at the price they want.
Thread:
Sue Spanish Builder/Bank in UK?
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