I´ll try and condense this story as much as i can in the hope that you read it to the end and can with luck point me in the right direction.
I have run a successful business in Spain for 2 years and this year we signed contracts with 3 companies to the value of 1 million euros. You can imagine our delight knowing that after years of hard work in the UK we had finally found the right formula here and things were all sorted and life in a few years time would be comfortable for all the family.
I knew that the contracts would not take effect until April this year so knowing business was going to be light until then and the need for equipment to fulfill the contracts i went to my bank who i have been with since day one here and presented my business plan and copies of the contracts and explained i needed 40k and said it was partly for equipment and partly cashflow until the contracts started.
The bank manager said no one had ever done a business plan for him before and he was sure there would be not problems. Come back in a couple of weeks when my boss has looked at everything he said.I should point out our account is run perfectly and we have had no issues except the bank gave us a mortgage on an illegal building and then charged me an admin fee for sorting out there own mess.
A couple of weeks later i go back and the manager wants the receipts for the tax paid in the last financial year. I pop them in the next day and he says come back next week. We are now at the end of January and worried things were not quite right i go back to be told you can only have 20k now as the bank are cutting back on lending in general etc.
Obviously not happy but with little choice i say ok and modify my plans. I go back two days later to be told the boss is busy so he has not looked at your file. Ok i say but times moving on and we need the money quickly. No problem come back next week.I go back next week to be told the same again. I explain that things are very tight and we need the money .I´m worried by now so i start a big cutback in costs but with one eye on the April contracts there is only so far i can go.
It´s now the week before Easter and still i keep going into the bank by now every day. Eventually on the Monday of Easter week i am told that i can now only have 10k. By this stage i am desperate so i say yes immedietley. Come back after Easter week and you can go to the notary nothing is possible this week as my boss is going on holiday i´m told.
I go back after Easter to be told the bank manager is on holiday for a week and nothnig can be done until he comes back.
Now i´m scared as i´ve missed 2 mortgage payments trying to keep the business going and messing suppliers around with payment which is going to hurt me with my contracts.
I went back in this Monday to be told the manager had transfered to another branch and when i asked where the paperwork was to go to the notary with the bombshell hit! They had no paperwork, the boss had not authorised any loan and the previous manager denies ever having said i had a loan agreed.No the boss will not agree to a meeting with me a mere customer it´s my problem and that´s it and by the way if you don´t bring the mortgage up to date by Friday we are going to repossess your house.
I guess it´s difficult to imagine where my head is at the moment but i have no choice but to fight on. Before i finish i should add that the first contract signed we were asked to do some work early and now having presented the invoice 6 weeks ago the company has gone under leaving me with 20k of materials to pay off with my suppliers. The other two contracts are now delayed until October due to the economic downturn so i´m pretty much screwed!
My suppliers are not impressed and not willing to come to any arrangements with me i´m told to expect a raft of Denuncias in the next few days.
So finally my questions are as follows...I´m no longer in a position to pay for legal help so i´ll have to do it all myself form my dream 1m turnover i now have 43 euros and some change to feed me and the family. My family in the UK don´t have any spare money so i´ve been applying for jobs all over the place to try and get to October and hopefully carry on with what was a good business.
1. How can i stop the bank from taking the house is there a reduced payment scheme or payment holiday as in the UK until i can get things back on track again?
2. How can i make an official complaint against the bank manager who has led me a real merry dance for 4 months.
3.Denuncias how do they work? my company is an SL company yesterday my Spanish friend who sometimes helps me out got a call from a suppliers lawyer saying they had issued a denuncia against him as they had his mobile phone number. He is not an employee or director so i don´t understand this.
Sorry for the length of the message but so much has happened i´ve struggled to keep it short.
Thanks in advance Stan