Can anyone help with exercising the bank guarantee for Casares del Sol Suites ?

I have been advised today by my lawyer that the developer has been granted the FirstOccupancy Licesnse by the Town Hall!!

I have replied to our lawyer that I am very excited but also hope that this is not premature.

Kathy & Jim Lawson

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  Message from our solicitor just recd:

Dear David,

 Thank you for your e-mail of yesterday evening.  In reply to same, I have just called the Developer and they inform me that as yet the First Occupation License has not been issued by the Town Hall.  They do expect to have this shortly, as they have completed all the works required by the Town Hall in order to issue same.  They will let us know immediately this has been issued and we will in turn inform you.

It's worth putting the Champagne on ice but don't open it just yet!

Hello All,

On the back of Kirjim2's post yesterday I decided to email my lawyers for an update and today I have received the following reply:-

"The Town Hall has granted the Habitation License for Phase I this week.  We
are expecting the license for Phase II to be granted shortly.  However, the
Developers have advised that they will handover the units in Phase I before
starting with the ones in Phase II.

The Developers will advise us when the properties in Phase II can be
inspected, prior to completion.  At the moment they are only allowing the
units in Phase I to be inspected.  As soon as they advise us, I will let you
know just in case you want to come down personally"

We are buying on phase II and like our other phase II neighbours are at the back of a very long queue but I think this is positive news for us all.

So now we have 2 to 1 in favour! Does that mean they've got the licence? My solicitor is Lex Marbella who, according to Perla, are acting for a large number of DJ buyers. This does not mean they've got it right and we all know that in Spain things are never as simply as we expected. Is anyone able to throw further light on this?

Hi my son is meeting with our lawers at manzanares friday and i will e/mail any further news irene/peter

This message was last edited by irenemontague on 8/9/2007.

Hi my son is meeting with our lawers at manzanares friday and i will e/mail any further news irene/peter

Just got back from Spain this evening and saw the posts re FOL (First Occupancy Licence) - I spoke with Perla yesterday Wednesday outside the Arrohabitatge office at 4.30 pm approx and she said that the road was finished, the papers for the FOL were gone in to the Town Hall and the the granting of the licence was expected this week.  I asked how soon after receipt of licence would signing start and she said if they had it now they could start signing on Friday....

I then paid a visit to Don Juan having mentioned that I was going to do this to Perla and observed 2 vans and an SUV parked near Block 2 where a lady and a man were having an animated conversation!  The back of the van was open and it appeared to contain several brown cardboard boxes of the shape and size of kitchen hobs so perhaps they were installing these. I slipped past between Phase II & III and took some photos of the provisional road from that viewpoint and it did indeed appear to be finished and no further work was going on there. In fact the whole area looked well, as if it had been cleaned up in preparation for handing over.  I didn't get much time there however as a tough lady in the SUV drove up and insisted that I leave despite my protests that I had permission from Perla! ( This might have been stretching it a bit anyway).

So, the bottom line is that as of yesterday at 4.30 pm according to Perla the licence was still awaited.

My solicitor has arranged a meeting with the Town Hall officials for 20th August which was the earliest date he could obtain for an appointment.  If I hear anything new I will post an update. However I think it is fair to say that all indications suggest that the granting of the FOL is indeed imminent.

I will post some new photos asap.

my son was in our apt on tuesday and it was all finished and all kitchen white goods where in and very clean block 8 and will be going to the town hall this friday irere/peter

Hi Irene/Peter & Gericom, Do you know if the pools have been cleaned and the handrails installed?

Hi i will ask my son that when he rings and post a message sap bye irene/peter

I'm sorry to say but it's 2-2. My lawyer spoke to the developer and they don't have the licence. They visit the townhall on an almost daily basis, but still no good news. They don't seem to know why so far it has not been granted.

I'm not very patient and before Gericom posted his helpful information I had already e-mailed my solicitor again. This is the reply  (sent this morning)

I have talked to the Developer again this morning.  They have reconfirmed that as yet they do not have the License.  They hope to have this soon.  It has been approved by the Town Hall and is now waiting to be signed.  They expect to have this next week.  Please note that next Wednesday is a national holiday.

I will let you know as soon as the Developer confirms that they have the License.

This maybe explains the confusion - it is good news that the Town Hall have approved the work but we can't do anything until they get that all important signature on the licence.

Thanks for this as always. Wow! I guess we can open the Champagne tonight. Now comes the interesting bit - how they schedule the completion meetings.

Hi Max (and Everbody),                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Just to reafirm your statement received a mobile phone call from my lawyer  in Malaga, to state the licience has been signd but the documentation is not physical in the Town Hall at the present time.                                                                                                                                                   Just a note to residence to be,  on electrical connection, the company will require entrance to the apartment , so if you are not available make arrangements for access, after supplier contract signed and date agreed.

                          Ken

Drank the expensive stuff  - not worth the money to be honest and we'll have to buy an even more expensive bottle when we get the keys but there you go. Max can help us understand why we've got no electricity 'til September.

thanks 

Below is a clip from Ian Maitlands property info service, we may need to be aware of this sort of stuff considering our past experience in trying buy at Don Juan. I dont think our rough ride is over just yet. :-) 

Regards, Andy

3. Be aware of what some developers can and will do to get you to sign the title deeds. We have one client whom we have advised (as we usually do) not to proceed without a habitation certificate. That is sensible advice. Initially, the developer reluctantly agreed to postpone the signing of the title deed until the habitation certificate was obtained. However, he has recently changed his attitude and has provided our client with a copy of a judgement that he has obtained against another buyer in the same development. In this, the court has said that the buyer must sign the title deeds even though the habitation certificate has not yet been issued. The implication is that the developer can get a similar judgement against our client if necessary. The Spanish courts interpreting the law in their judgements is precisely what has happened in this case. The developer has obtained a judgment from the court in a case brought against them by one of the buyers of the same complex who intended to cancel his purchase for breach of contract.

4. Understand the changing situation in the light of this recent court case. This judgment from the courts is completely in favour of the developer and denies the claimant the right to cancel the contract because the habitation certificate had not been granted. That is generally against the advice that is usually given, and has been given for some time. Nevertheless, the judgment is not quite as clear-cut as it first seems. It states that the habitation certificate is understood to have been granted as the town hall has failed to issue the document within three months. Under Spanish law, in the event that town halls do not issue the certificate within three months of applying for them it will be presumed that the certificates have been granted; even though they may not have been! What we are now finding (as is usual in Spain) is that the situation tends to be different from area to area and that there is always some confusion until the matter all settles down. We are still giving the same advice – try not to sign the title deeds until you have the habitation certificate.

5. Bottom line advice? So what can you, as a prospective buyer in Spain, actually do about this? Well, go and speak to your lawyer in the first place. They will be able to tell you what the situation is in the area that you are buying - remember, it is likely to differ from one region to another so do get specific advice that’s appropriate to your particular situation. Your lawyer may also be able to find out why the habitation certificate hasn’t been issued yet (i.e. whether it is just an admin delay by the authorities or whether there is something more sinister going on). In addition to that, before you sign the contract make sure that there is a clause that states that the final payment and the signature of the title deed will take place after the habitation certificate has been issued and not after the property has been finished and the certificate of end of works has been issued - but don’t be surprised if the developer refuses to accept this change! I will keep you updated via Spain Property Alerts as matters develop

This message was last edited by otterandy on 8/18/2007.