Case Won and Deposit Returned

Many thanks to Maria and her team at Costaluz Lawyers for a hard won fight in the courts and finally getting our deposit returned from Cam Bank plus interest.

We put a deposit down on the first phase of Finca Parcs Development obtaining a legal Bank Guarantee.  Although first phase was completely a final certificate of habitation was not granted and the development was eventually abandoned.  Although going through the proper process Cam Bank ignored our requests for return of our deposit even with a legal Bank Guarantee so we had to go to court.

The First Instance Court Judge for some strange obscure reason did not favour our case even with a legal Bank Gurantee and proof that the development had been abandoned.   Maria and her team appealed this ridiculous decision and took our case to a higher court and glad to say we WON !!  We were also granted interest but unfortunately we were not granted our Legal Fees.  I always thought if you won your case then legal fees would be granted - sadly this is not the case. 

However, we are so glad to have our deposit returned and the interest went some way towards the Legal Fees.

Thanks again to Maria and her team for being determined and winning our case !

That's very encouraging news and you must be delighted. Congratulations to you and Maria and her team at Costaluz, their  'won cases'  are really stacking up now.

How can the judge NOT award you your legal fees when it is quite clear that the bank were in breach of the terms of the bank guarantee? It was THEY who forced you in to taking legal action. So why should you have the extra burden of legal fees?

If your  case sets a precedent and further similar cases against Cam Bank are won, will those cases also have to pay their own legal fees?

It seems that Cam Banks' actions, by causing these cases to have to be brought to court, prove that the fault is theirs and so they should have to pay the legal fees.

Thanks Sauzee fpr posting your experience here!

KIndest,

Maria

Wonderful news but I think Sandra's queries deserve a response also, for all those continuing to fight their corners, especially when they have trodden several routes for legal recompense which is a costly scenario. How can there be any incentive to follow the various legal routes required to protect their monies , if at the end of the day the client is not awarded costs?

This message was last edited by ads on 29/05/2011.

This message was last edited by ads on 29/05/2011.

This message was last edited by ads on 29/05/2011.

Unbelievable.....

Maria, do you have any comments or justification for why they should not award legal fees? There seems to be no logic to this.....

Hi Sauzee,  I am very pleased for you that you have your money returned, however it is incredible that even with a bank guarantee this case should have gone to court at all.  Amazing also that you have had to pay the legal fees.  As we are without a bank guarantee I think there is very little chance of us ever having our money returned.

Hi Sandra & Sparky,

Sandra you comments were exactly what I said at the time.  The Appeal Court Judge referred the legal fees issue back to the Court of First Instance - the very Court that did not honour our legal Bank Guarantee in the first place.   This would have meant more legal fees not to mention Procurator Fees as you have to pay Procurator Fees every time you go to Court.  You are both right Cam Bank are a disgrace and should have been made to pay all the Legal Fees as it was there fault we had to go to Court and it was the Judges responsibility to make sure they should have paid and learn the lesson to uphold the law !!

 Hi Sauzee, glad to hear that you got your money back.

So are you actually saying that you could have claimed for your fees but that it would have been a seperate case back in the original court and therefore you decided not to go ahead?

Joan

Hi Joan,

That is correct we thought it not worth the extra fees to go back to the Court of First Instance where there was a strong chance they would not have honoured in our favour since they did not with our legal Bank Gurantee in the first place !  I don't understand why the Appeal Court could not have awarded us our legal fees !

Sauzee

What was the judge's reason for refusing to award the legal fees? If they were claimed in the original and subsequent case the judge must have commented on his reasons for his decision not to award them. What did Maria say?

"

Hi Sandra & Sparky,

Sandra you comments were exactly what I said at the time.  The Appeal Court Judge referred the legal fees issue back to the Court of First Instance - the very Court that did not honour our legal Bank Guarantee in the first place.   This would have meant more legal fees not to mention Procurator Fees as you have to pay Procurator Fees every time you go to Court.  You are both right Cam Bank are a disgrace and should have been made to pay all the Legal Fees as it was there fault we had to go to Court and it was the Judges responsibility to make sure they should have paid and learn the lesson to uphold the law !!"

** EDITED - Against forum rules **

While it's great to read of returned monies, it just goes to show what a corrupt system it still is, when you can win your case against a bunch of crooks that you clearly shouldn't of had to take a case against anyway, and then you have to pay the courts costs on top?????????

Just how wrong is the Spanish justice system?,......about as wrong as those we have to take to court due to a clear lack of common sense, regulation and integrity!.

What bloody chance do those of us stand without a BG??  Many of our cases couldn't be clearer, we were not provided with a BG, and we won our case of huge breaches of contract in court against crooks,............ but not before the crooks we have  to rely on for justice delayed our cases long enough to render our long fought expensive battles useless!

How can we even consider fighting on for what's rightfully ours if we can't even trust the justice system to award costs to the winner?

 Sauzee:

If you give to me your name and permission to comment on your case here I would be able to locate who you are and explain why the Judge has not imposed legal fees on deffendant

Bump.

It seems Spain knows how to CLAIM compensation but NOT how to pay it out!!

Perhaps Marta Andreason could intervine here and have any compensation paid into a fund to compensate and repay property  purchasers who have been swindled etc., by those invoved in the Spanish property business and whom the Spanish legal system have failed to protect!!

Sandra completely agree.

Corrupt country - no better than the third world despots we are forced to suffer and deal with daily.

Just wish we wouldchuck out of UK every benefit cheating Spaniard, every Spanish student, every Spanish housing benefit claimant and have the guts to stick two fingers up to EEC like the EEC are doing to us and have guts to withdraw spain % of our astrominical eec grant and repay UK investors / buyers pensioners.

Let Zapertwato  sound like a typical "my country is beautiful, not corrupt at all " leader and plead racism, besuging their human rights and hard luck story - who cares if we upset crooks

British citizens deserve better than dealing  with a modern day stalin

This message was last edited by Abacusdc on 03/06/2011.

This message was last edited by Abacusdc on 03/06/2011.

 Hi Abacus

EEC?  I assume you are not based in Spain. You couldn't be. Surely not.

Robert:

Pay no heed.  Trolls have no idea of frontiers. 

Patricia

 Sound advice, Patricia. I was just wondering.

Cor blimey what a load of tosh this Abacawotnot speaks, obviously has no idea about what the BRITS abroad get up to !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UK benifit cheats living abroad mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm   I rest my case.