Taking a bank to court

Has anybody ever tried taking a bank to court?  The reason being that our contract to purchase off plan did not include a bank guarantee which is apparently against the law.  Now the developers have gone into liquidation - and so has our deposit.

Any help or thoughts gratefully received.

Maria de Castro recently posted this so it might be worth discussing things with her:

 http://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/costaluz/3569/legal-tip-277-low-cost-action-against-banks-manifesto-by-costaluzlawyers.aspx

It would be interesting to know of any legal case wins relating to this action.

Many thanks for that.

somehow, I didn't fully understand at first the possibility of a low cost action against the banks as put forward by Marie. 

When I first read it,  my  head was a bit of a shed. 

It might not apply to my case as the development is now finished and we could in fact buy the apartment - but it is two years late in the completion.

The question to ask yourself is are you happy with the completed apartment and complex (even if it is 2 years late) because it's a long legal road ahead if you choose the legal route. and some would suggest it's best to be left with an asset rather than risk being left with nothing at all if the legal challenge fails. Personally however I would not consider completion if the product was substandard (i.e. left with a costly  liability), a ghost town or is majorly deficient in features promised etc, or if the maintenance costs were likely to be prohibitive taking into account that the developer has gone into liquidation, poor security etc etc..in other words weigh up the pros and cons.

Might still be worth discussing things with Maria to be sure that there are no hidden problems relating to the purchase if you were to proceed, plus she could advise if you may be entitled to negotiate a better deal with whoever takes over the complex (the Bank?) if you chose to continue with completion....... (many banks would probably be more than willing to do this given the economic downturn). It's a personal call at the end of the day, but don't underestimate the overheads and stress involved in completing if any of the above criteria (and more) is of longer term concern.

Good luck.

Very many thanks for the suggestions and advice ads.

Unfortunately, I should have been clearer.  Although the complex is finished, we would not now consider buying.  We paid the deposit in 2004 and it was due to be completed in 2006.  It wasn't actually completed until 2008, having been a 'stopped-job' for about a year.  We went to court to cancel the contract, which we won, but the developers appealed.  The appeal case didn't get as far as being heard before they went into liquidation.

Now the development  is a ghost town and the maintenance fees are in a mess with so few of the apartments being occupied.

But anyway, your point about the bank possibly taking over the development  raises an interesting question since it was the bank who didn't ensure there was a bank guarantee at the start ... ?

Given your situation, I would seriously consider Maria's option to claim against the Bank (group action).......

Just out of interest did you suffer court delays throughout this legal process to date?

Thanks Ads.

I did talk to Maria about this case but not recently.  I will contact her again.  But if we hadn't already instructed a solicitor and gone quite a long way down the line before I discovered this site, I would definitely have gone to her!

We took action against the developers to cancel the contract June 2008 and up until the latest news that the devlopers have gone into liquidation, we were still awaiting the appeal.  So that is 2 years in total for the initial court case and appeal still not heard.

I will come back with the date of the initial court case later.

Here are the dates -

we went to a solicitor end of May 2008,

30 March, 2009 Audencia Previa

28th July, 2009 juicio definitivo

the Judge found in favour us, the developers appealed but are now in liquidation. 

Definitely a case for an action against the financial institution you placed your initial deposits at.

Best regards,

Maria

Many thanks Maria.  I have written to you at Costa Luz lawyers.

Answered now

M