Another Costaluz victory!

My wife and I bought in Medina Golf, Granada, back in mid 2006, sinking every penny we had, and more, into the property. We had read many articles in property magazines and articles by 'property experts' all said what a great, fail-safe buy this was. It seemed the perfect location and would give us a dream life. However, at the end of 2008 we, like many other buyers around Spain, woke up to see the contract deadline elapse, followed by developer and then the builder go bust. The property is still standing today as an empty shell. Being a member of EOS for some time, we had read many of Maria's posts and felt she was the person we would entrust to get our money back. So, in early 2009 we contacted Maria for help. We were lucky enough to get a complete bank guarantee, but it still took three years, May 2012, until our case was heard. Fortunately we won, but the bank decided to push their luck and appealed. Again, this was won in April of this year. We have now recovered our deposit, costs and interest all thanks to Costluz Lawyers. We'd like to thank Maria, and especially Almudena, Mar and Keith, who looked after our case over these difficult years, and had to put up with constant nagging and frustrated emails from me. It is hard to believe the nightmare is now over. If you are still going through this, hang in there it will come to an end. The courts are slowly coming to their senses, thanks to the hard work of people like Maria and her team.

Best wishes,

ChrisW

Well done Chris and Costaluz, a wonderful result, but there is still a long way to go in the fight for consistent recognition of inalienable rights, for an effective regulatory body to stamp its authority on those Banks who continue to challenge what was already written into existing Spanish Law.

All the best.

Fantastic result you were fortunate to get your money back, now go and get some quality financial advice from a professional and stay away from these sharks

Love Hugh

Fantastic result you were fortunate to get your money back, now go and get some quality financial advice from a professional and stay away from these sharks

Love Hugh

What about the professional financial sharks, Huge?

Anyway, great news Chris, well done. Did you manage to get legal interest from the outset or just from the start of the case?

Hi,

We did get interest, but I don't know how it was calculated. 

ChrisW

That's great news Chris, congratulations. As a buyer on a neighbouring development, and awaiting the outcome of a criminal case in Granada which involves the developers on Medina Elvira (accused of fraud) and Town Hall officials (accused of prevarication, a planning crime) it's great to hear any good news from this sorry mess.

I totally agree with Ads that there is a need for consistency in these matters as I know there are still many people who have yet to get their money back on Medina Golf, which currently stands not just empty but over the last two years has been looted and vandalised to the extent that it is totally uninhabitable.  This summer the Guardia Civil have made several arrests, including 3 people leaving with 30 window frames, the mains cables have gone, even the transformers removed from the electricity cabinets, and every boiler has been relieved of its heat exchanger - that's just what can be seen from the outside, it's like a war zone inside.  The Guardia Civil make regular patrols and the road to Medina Golf is blocked off, but they can't catch every thief.

I truly hope everyone with a deposit on this pile of bricks is successful but what I hear is that the lawyers have to deal with each case individually, all buyers seem to be in different circumstances from a legal point of view (different paperwork etc. as the developer changed tactics in taking deposits etc.) so I totally agree there needs to be better protection for anyone buying property in Spain when bought in good faith.

Are the costaluz fees reasoable?

We were extremely fortunate to have a BG, but even without it the law needs to be consistent, no matter what the circumstances where. It is a disgrace that buyers have been treated in this way and I imagine it will be a long time before people dare start buying again in Spain.

The fees were high; they went up a little from the original quote as VAT and bar charges also went up. Plus, the barrister fees worked out as basically the same as the lawyers. Overall, there were fees for the first instance, fees for the appeal, and fees for claiming the interest - adding up to about 20% of the deposit. However, everything but the interest fees were paid by the bank, so Costaluz and the barrister were welcome to charge as much as they liked. Fortunately, we were completely unaware of any of these charges, especially for the appeal and interest, until the end when the money was returned. I don't know how we would have coped worrying about finding the money for the fees in the event we lost; I’m not sure we could have paid. Whoever your lawyers are, I would really make sure you are completely clear what extra charges there are – and, for what its worth, get it in writing. But most importantly, get lawyers who are going to win your case.

ChrisW

20% ?!

That's a big risk to take, unless it is no win no fee situation.

Fazarelli, I just did the calculation properly; total costs worked out to be 33% of the deposit, assuming the fee for the interest wouldn't have been made had we lost the appeal - otherwise it would have been 38%. However, as I said, I am so glad we only found this out at the end!

Chris

Sometimes, there is a difficulty when interpreting the budget that we sent to clients at the beginning of our professional relationship, but we have always offered full information on fees from day 1.

It is also truth that most communly, fees are imposed to the counterparty.

Hi,

Indeed the bank, in our case, paid everything, except for a fee for the interest - but given that we got some interest, I can't complain.

However, I would pick issue the clients know everything up front. In our case, we got a quote at the start, but we were never informed of any changes to the fees, or the additional fees for the appeal or the interest, or how much more the barrister would cost compared to what was originally stated in the quote, until we found out at the very end.  But as I said, we were very lucky to have had good lawyers that won our case and the bank had to pick up the tap.

Chris

Chris, so what you're saying is that you paid a total of around 33% of the deposit in fees, correct? And those fees were paid over time, as and when the appeal and other stages started? And, ALL those costs were paid in FULL by the bank, except for the interest part? What percentage was the interest part?

Do you think these fees were inflated after the first court case, knowing that the case was going to be found in your favour?

It just seems a bit mad to be risking a massive amount of money (in my case that would be about €15k).

There is no inflaton.

The initial budget we send at the start, as the document clearly says, is " indicative", as guidelines by the Bar Association, VAT...changes along the time. Also there are always unexpected fees ( if the counterparty appeals, if Sentence needs to be published....) that cannot be exactly calculated from the beginning.

We have always been stating this in our budget document.

Anyhow, at present, and thanks to Keith Rule´s help ( who is so capable of putting himself in your shoes as the client he has been for years), we are ellaborating a much more detailed budget and information document.

Hi,

I agree with Maria, there was no inflation in the budget, other than the VAT and bar charges - which it did state in the original budget could go up. However, it would have been nice to have been told this when it occur - even a generic email to all clients would have been appreciated. As a client, and I admit I'm a bit of a control freak, transparency and communication is the difference between being extremely worried and anxious (to the point of near illness) about the case, and simply being worried but trusting your lawyer.

Fazarelli, to answer your questions; we paid an initial negotiation fee (3% of the deposit) to ask the bank to settle out of court, but when this failed we paid a litigation fee (5% of the deposit). These we paid up front, after this all other fees were retained from the money returned to us - so we never had to find the funds to pay this.

The fees did work out to be a lot, but if we hadn't taken the risk (unknowingly) we would be facing a bleak future; that deposit was everything we had, all our savings, everything. You have to talk with your potential lawyer, and make sure you choose one with a lot of experience - goods ones like Costaluz. They will be able to tell you what the chances are that the case can be won. As Maria and others continue to win cases, the chances of winning, or even settling out of court, are getting better and better. It's not an easy decision, but it is your money the banks are keeping.

Thanks Chris. Good advise to us.

We will start sending general emails to clients everytime Bar Association or Government increases their fees.

As an addittional note, we always charge just the minimum stablished by our Bar Associations. We committ to not charging more than that.

And finally, if you admitt... that fee pays for the work of a team of around 20 people for a good number of years.

Merry Christmas!!!

Maria

Hi Maria,

You and your team won our money back, so, as far as I am concerned, you're worth every cent!

Have a great Christmas,

Chris