Eye on Spain review - Developers & Agents

I wrote an email to Huma - with some very tough questions and told them of several rumours that I heard while investigating  - which I insisted I had the truth for.Some of the replies are in answer to specific issues I made in my email. Well here is the reply in full (from Juana@humamediterraneo.com) .......

Dear Mr & Mrs .......

First of all we will like to apologizes for all the inconveniences and troubles made with this situation.

 

I will like to clarify that Huma Mediterraneo, S.L. does not have any problem with any development in Murcia. We have one development in Mazarrón in the Murcia cost, “Mazarrón Country Club” and it is nearly finish, we are doing the last properties in the first face. It is a nice development and everyone which is living hear is very happy because it is a nice and quiet complex in the middle of the mountains and 10 minutes away from the beach.

Therefore I do not know from where is coming that information but it is wrong.

 

I will like to clarify as well, in a very, very important point from your e-mail, that NO ONE HAS LOST THEIR MONEY.

The solicitors does not have anything to do with us, they have to work with the clients, and if we are that bad as all that people are saying,  they will want to go against us because it is sure that they will win, don’t you think?.

The truth is that nobody has lost their money, with or without bank guarantee. The main reason is because Almanzora Country Club is going to go ahead and EVERYONE will have their property as they wanted.

 

Banks are dealing with us, and also since we are stop with the construction we had started to work with another bank.

The issue with the bank guarantees, it is just a little matter of time.

Basically, the banks are requesting new documentation (which is completely understandable), and we are working to supply them wit all this documentation. Almanzora is a big site and we are doing the documentation for the entire site.

Once we give all the documentation to the banks and they agree with it (which is not a problem), we will continuo doing more bank guarantees, and the first bank guarantees to do will be for the clients which are missing the first bank guarantee, as you are.

Therefore is not because we are going to bank rote or because the banks do not want to work with us or because we do not have money, the truth is because in this type of situations banks want to cover their back and that’s it.

 

If clients want to get all together and take us to court because what is happening, it is up to them, it is their decision.

Regarding what are you saying regarding the Land, Huma Mediterraneo, S.L. is the owner of the land where Almanzora site will be built.  (I hear that rumour before because other clients).

 

I know that clients are speaking and passing information one to each other in Internet. That is sometimes good and sometimes bad, because they are passing information which sometimes is not truth and make all clients very unhappy and in our point of view is totally unnecessary.

At the moment there is a rumour which one client or someone started in Internet which say that we will never get the license and that we know. As I said before is just a rumour, completely untrue and the majority of the times is some other company which wants to sell something and it is using our name and our situation to sell easily.  

Sometimes instead of get really angry and upset readying in Internet is easier to contact with me and I will tell you if truth is or not.

 

As I said before, your money it is NOT in risk because we are nearly at the end of this situation and shortly we will be able to go back to the site.

We think that shortly we will be able to go back and to be able to build the houses. The Junta and the Town Hall are happy with the complex and we had been informed that soon will approve.

 

You will have your house in Spain as you wanted, because you had NOT lost any money. The end of all this situation is nearly hears.

 

Kind Regards

Juana Mendoza

Customer Service Department

 

 

Thank you for the posting John.

May I suggest everyone sends a copy of this to their Abogados and ask them why they haven't got this information directly from Huma and what are we paying them for? At the very least you might get them to wriggle and squirm and come up with  a very lame excuse.

I will by a pint to the person who posts the best "genuine" reply received.

I still am worried even after the reply form Huma about certain issues - especially regarding the need to change banks before the project has hardly got started.

I suggest if you have any personal issues - that we all contact Huma direct (as suggested in my reply from Huma) and we post replies in full so we can all share info.

I intend to email Huma regularly to answer various questions that I feel I (and others) do not have a full answer for and I will post them on the site.

I think solicitors are not adequate - we use Aldea - they never answer any questions properly and Marybelle seems to be the only person dealing with Almanzora and she never answers emails/faxes or returns phone calls. You can only talk to her by the phone at your cost if she is in and she seems to be permanently out of the office on business or holiday over the last 2-3 months.I even offically compalined about her and the service got worse - she has never been in since on a day I was told she would be. No-one else can help me apart from looking in the file.

Aldea are not willing to advise me on other possible action against Huma and never got me a Bank Guarantee - even though we paid our second instalment back in October 2005.

I have talked to other solicitors and some have advised me on other possible legal action against Huma. I have not decided how to proceed yet, but am considering my legal options.

I am going to change solicitor - but I do not want to recommend anyone (as I worry if all solicitors in Spain are at different levels of indifference). There must be some very wealthy solicitors in Spain on the back of foreign property buyers.

I am looking to report Aldea to the Law Society in Spain and I will keep you posted about what happens.We will see if they have any pride in the Spanish legal profession.

 

 

 

 

Here is a reply from Huma today - about timescales ... (see earlier reply from Huma to me on Bank Guarantees, etc)

 

John,

Many thanks for posting your information, very helpful.

Hang in there, we will soon(??) be around the bar/pool having a laugh about it all.....

as long as they complete then although we have lost a year or two in the sun, at least the prices are fixed from when we all purchased. Going back into the market now would probably be too expensive for some.

I know everyone is tired and worried, but can Almanzora really recover if the site never got the go ahead? I doubt not, and i would guess the whole region would take a hit, which is far from what the Mayors' after re-election want......

 

Just a comment about Johns note above. (First post)

Huma told me, (verbally) that as each individual property was finished and passed for completion / Escutura , you would get the keys immediately and not have to wait for others to be completed even if it was your neighbours property that was unfinished. This way, I was told, it would speed this up.

As I purchased in April 2004 with a contract expiry of May 2006, I hope this is the case.

Anyway, better late than never !!

 

Philmel

I understand your eagerness to obtain "the keys" but as so often happens (especially Mazarron CC - Huma's first development), the keys are available but the ALL important Licence of First Occupation (LFO) is not.

You are unable able to have services in your name (Water, Electricity, Telephone) without this document and you would probably be unable to sell the property until it was granted.  

Hi Harvey6699

 

Do you know if Huma entend to apply for the LFO as each mananza is completed, or wait until the whole development is finished?  How is it / was it done at MCC?

mickmemate

Smart answer ...is I do not believe Huma will do anything  about anything unless you get it in writing first and then second, take them to court to have actioned.

My main interest is AlmanzoraCC and I have contacted various helpful folk at MCC who are willing to share their own unfortunate experiences in the hope that others may benefit.

http://groups.msn.com/mazarroncountryclubadditionalresidentsgroup/general.msnw

From what I remember when I first visited MCC in 2003 there were NO apartments (Manzanas) on the Mazarron development.

Hyperthetically, when each Manzana is "finished" it will obviously be beneficial (financially) for Huma to use the same game plan at ACC and get owners to exchange final payments for keys to the apartments/villas and put everyone on "site supply".

This may involve a short term gain of Low Expense or no No Expense until the LFO is granted but this is a classic case of "You pays yer money.... etc,,,"

Read the cautionery tales if you choose to go this route.

If we ever get that far to be able to consider these options I hope that we will all be part of an Owners Interest Group (hopefully only one) who will have enough influnce to make sure the developer delivers "what it says on the tin", or in our case the GLOSSY Brochure.

The LFO is one of the key documents when purchasing in Spain and I certainly would not pay any final amounts until I had a sight of its existence.

Thanks for the reply Harvey6699

 

I see that MCC is not the only development in the area that is having problems with LFOs.  According to http://www.costablanca-news.com/news/costacalida.htm the large development at Camposol is still waiting for LFOs to be issued (some residents have been waiting for 7 years +), so some of the blame seems to lie with the Townhall.