compensation re builders late completion

I really feel like I'm out on  limb here! desperate to move  and should be moving now,but no property for 2 years and  more!!

would like Maria to get in touch as have tried to get in touch through this site, but obviously had no luck and have sent personal messages too, but without reply?

MagsB, I am guessing that Maria is very busy these days!

Have you tried emailing her directly at marialuisa@costaluzlawyers.es?

Justin

Please email me at: mldecastro@costaluzlawyers.es

 or marialuisa@costaluzlawyers.es

I usually don´t have any problem at receiveing email. Please try again.

Hi Maria, have emailed through the link from EOS Team,so hope you get this one,if not,could you PM me please.

Does anybody know if you cancel your contract because the deveopers are late and request a refund, is the 7% iva you paid on your deposit also refunded or is this lost as it is a tax.

hi this question is for maria, our builder is 8 months over the contract date, but he is refusing to give us any form of compensation as he says it is out of his control due to the fact the apartment has been finished approx 6 weeks but it is inacessable due to the electricity people IBODROLA having the paths dug up outside. even so this would still make him over by six and a half months. are we right to still go for some form of compensation.

Does anybody know if there is a compensation scale according to how long construction is delayed by? Or is it a case of throwing figures in the air and seeing what comes down?

Alan

Hi everyone

Unfortunately we are in a similar position.  Our contract with the builders states that we are entitled to a full refund of deposit plus interest if the build is more than six months past its original completion date.  It is now 9th months past this date with the build only just at the foundation stage and very little ongoing work.  The builder will not co-operate with our Solicitor and today he has advised me to forward to the courts to apply for a refund.  Has anyone actually won through the courts?  If so I would love to hear about your experiences, good and bad, to enable me to pursue as quickly as possible.  (if that's possible in Spain!)

sharlu

we are in a similar position, though our appartment was well over two years late!, not built to the contract specification and now, four and a half years after putting our deposit down, still has no LFO. Despite all this, many still completed, partly due to waiting so long, partly due to the worry that the developer may go bust while we waited for the right paperwork to be in place and partly through bad advice from the agent and lawyer. We have now found a good lawyer to take our several breaches of contract to court. The first one said we should complete and then claim afterwards, which was i realise now,  the worst bit of advice we ever had, and from someone we assumed was  working for us???

We know we are in the right and are now quite confident of a win. (if we dont come up agaist a corrupt judge). The very helpful lawyers, Maria on this site and Drakan on SPI have both been great in advising us on good lawyers and explaining our legal position. I'm told the tide is turning, and some developers are now settling 'out of court', as so many of them have been proved wrong.

Best of luck, and if i remember, i'll let you know how and when our case moves forward.

Best of luck with your cases guys and do please keep us updated with how it goes.

Hi Sharlu,

I've sent you a personal message explaining the background to my own claim.

Mike T

EOS Team

yes we will let you know, just to add insult to injury, after nearly 4  years of waiting, our appartment in our contract was suddenly ' not available anymore ' and we were offered one in a different position less than two thirds the size, with no discount!. Good eh!

miket

i would also be interested in your case if that's o.k.

just to add insult to injury, after nearly 4  years of waiting, our appartment in our contract was suddenly ' not available anymore ' and we were offered one in a different position less than two thirds the size, with no discount!.

 

Hi Goodstitch, When did this happen?!!

Tish

we only found out about about this through our 'new' lawyer last oct/nov. We put our original deposit down in  june 2002. After about two years, our agents finally admitted that the site we thought was half built, had in fact never been started and didn't even have a license!  The agents then transfered us to another site by the same developer with an appartment the same size, that was at least half built and we were promised it would be finished shortly. We had to pay approx £4000 more for that pleasure. So that's where we are now. Nearly 5 years on and we were told last oct/nov our appartment was not now available, but we could have one not much more than half the size, but with no discount, no LFO, or even a bank guarantee. So we are suing for breach of contract on several issues. A nightmare or what!

Hi Goodstitch,

I didn't realize the extent of your problem! What a nightmare!. I'm sure your new lawyer will come good for you in the end but it's such a slow process.  The wheels of the Spanish judicial system barely move!  Good Luck.

Tish

thanks for your positive words, it's always good to know people are behind you. It has been one hell of a worry for my wife and i, (and still is) as it was pretty much our life savings went in to this. If it wasn't for the two main sites (eos and spi) and the good people that run them and post on them, things could well be worse. The gut feeling i had that we were not being given good advice or even told the truth by people we thought we could trust was confirmed after i started poking around in the forums. We are starting to feel positive now, but the whole thing has left me feeling bitter about the whole Spanish legal sytstem.

Sounds like an Aifos style trick - happened to a mate of mine too -

Smiley

i'm sure you are right,  it's the amount of people that fall for it that's really sad. They complete, thinking they can put it right afterwards and it's to late!. Once you complete in Spain, the law is very unlikely i think , to help you put things right, even when the developers are obviously very much in the wrong! Bad advice from some agents and lawyers can and does make matters worse.

Have been checking out all replies and we are now convinced that we are definately going to have to bale out if we are ever going to have a retirement home?? Time is running out now, but the ball is starting to roll!! I realise I dont contribute anything, but then I don't know anything that would be of help, but watch this space when I get there he!he! Thanks a million for the support and help on this forum x

Helo MagsB,

Don't give up hope yet,

If you post your situation, there may be others more "in the know" than I am, who may be able to help you.

Tell us all about your situation and then see if anyone has some advice for you.

Not ALL situations are the same, so don't judge by what others have been given advice on here, each case is unique.

Kind regards,

MagsB

have looked at your original post/situation, i'm no expert, and i'm sure Maria can point you in the right direction, but i would have thought that  a good lawyer should fight for a return of deposit. We hung on for ages, with our agents saying it will be allright in the end, and our agent recomended lawyer backing them up. We also had fellow buyers telling us to just wait, then complete as we would never get our deposit back, that always felt wrong to me.  Why the hell should we put up with being treated this badly? You have to remember that at least one party will gain from you completing, even though it might not be in your interest to do so. Good luck!

Hi All, Good luck  to everyone who  are  fighting for compensation  and a return of deposits. Can  anyone  tell me if you do win your case, will the builders have to pay your expenses and legal fees? I am in an almost identical situation as Goodstich, although I haven,t decided to try for the return of my deposits yet, as the Hopeadreamo seems to be almost built. Regards Alex.

Alex

as far as i am aware they do, along with interest, about 4% i think. I am told that more cases are now being settled out of court, as once a developer has lost a similar case in court, they dont want to risk it again. But they will sometimes take it to the final hour before admitting defeat. Good luck!

Thank you Goodstitch and Miket for your advice. It's good to know there may be light at the end of the tunnel.

hi
it seems as though we are in the same situation. we bought off plan october '05 and once we had paid the stage payment our 'solicitor' confirmed that the bank guarantee was 'in order'. we never recieved it despite many phone calls and emails. the building licence was withdrawn mid 2006, and no one knows if they will be granted a new licence. when we asked our 'solicitor' for the bg, she told us it had never been issued. we contacted our agent hoping they would be able to give us some more information. all they told us was that they have every confidence in the builder and that the developer is a reputable company. they've now stopped answering my emails and the person dealing with the site is never in the office. the 'solicitor' (yes, we used the one recommended by the agent - doh!) said it was not her fault the bg was not issued, as far as she was concerned our contract was the guarantee! she advises us against suing the builder for failing to issue the bg. looks like i'll have to contact maria to see if we can get our money back.
good luck to everyone in a similar situation!!

This message was last edited by JeansSis on 5/17/2007.

jason2007

 good luck to you to, lots of us fall for that trick, we assumed that because we were prepared to pay someone, (lawyer/agent etc) to work in our interest, that they would do so, and not betray our trust!... Big mistake i realise now. I think as long as you move fast and use someone like Maria that you can trust, you are at least giving yourself the best chance of justice. You know you are in the right.

goodstich44 and jeansis

thanks guys, looks like i got more than i bargained for when i handed my money over.

jason

Can anyone give some advice.

Have received a letter today to advise that the development will be 1 year late and an offer of compensation for this delay. The compensation is in the form of a package such as free house insurance for 1 year, free connection to electricity and water and gas, free electrical light fittings, alarm pre-installation, white goods and air-con pre installation.

What do you think of this offer.

Has anyone been offered similar before?

Many thanks for any advice

Stephen

Stephen, don't know about anywhere else, but as our development included white goods, a/c, etc., I know of someone who was able to get the developer to pay their IVA.  We had house/contents insurance included for the first year on our mortgage payment and electricial fittings (I presume that refers to light fittings?) are pretty reasonable anyway - so maybe you should work out just what the saving would be either way.

If it's more beneficial to you, try get your lawyers to press for the IVA to be paid by them.  (I STRESS that I do not know what would be more advantageous financially, only you can work that out - just a suggestion).

At least they have offered compensation - lots of developers don't!! 

All the best!