Problem mortgage broker

Hi Anthony & Janice,

My first reaction is why on earth did you hand over 5,000 euros??!!!  You was told it was to cover valuation fees (these are a few hundred!) but what is the etc.???   Did they give you a breakown? Did that include their fee?? Did the broker recommend the lawyer?    Are they a registered company i.e. with a CIF number?  Has your lawyer not advised you to denounce them??   Do you have in writing ANYWHERE that all monies paid are NOT refundable under any circumstances? If so is it in English? Only documents in Spanish are legally binding.   Did you get any kind of  receipt/proof for the €5K???

I find this scandalous, incredible and totally outrageous.  Who are these people???

Kind Regards

Sharon

sharon@tmasspain.com

Smiley,

Yes it was him. Do you know of him?

Sharon,

We actually handed over 11,000 euro's through a company (if you can call them that). 4000 euro's for the developer which he has refunded and 5,000 euro's to the broker and 2000 euro's admin. The etc is (can you beleive) money that has been given to a introducer!! 2,500 euro's!!....... it gets worse  

This money was sent to our lawyer and SHOULD have been keep in an Escrow account until we had viewed the property, then when we were happy sent to the both parties. We have copies of transfers.

At the end of the day the money should not have been transferred so the lawyer I assume is to fault,  they should pay us and then chase SMA for the the 5,000 euro's. We feel so angry as we could have invested that money else where in Spain but now I dont trust anyone atal in Spain. I thought the Lawyers were surpose to be on our side.

I  could name a few people that Im sure most of you might know as you live in Spain but at this point I dont think It would do us any favors, we just want to get our money back.

Is there anyone in Spain that is honest?????????

Regards

Anthony and Janice

Tony, it does get worse!!!

I am absolutely gobsmacked that these figures have been charged, I cannot get my head round the fact that you were initially happy (maybe that is not the correct term!) to accept the charge of, I am now assuming 7,000 to the broker (€2K for admin!!!!!!!) when there are many of us here, charging 'normal' competitive fees. I think it is an absolute tradgedy that people like this can operate without any regulatory body to report them to.  Equally lawyers are not regulated but they are meant'  to operate to the code of the Colegio de Abogados and this could be a body to report your lawyer to as they clearly seem, judging by what you say, to be acting without integrity.  I cannot see the lawyer handing back your money to you while they wait to receive it back from the broker!   It may be worth approaching a different lawyer to help you, albeit incurring more costs.

It is a great shame that you find yourself in this situation and it becomes yet another story of roguism on the costa's BUT there ARE honest people here, unfortunately they get overshadowed by the dishonest.  

regards

Sharon

sharon@tmasspain.com

Hi Tony_Ross

To answer your question "is there any one in spain that is honest?".

Unfortunately there are many rogues that operate here and have been doing so for some time.

I really feel for you as this situation always puts a bad reflection on everybody trying to earn an honest living.

I was talking about this with the secretary of the local police as he often drops in for a chat,discussing corruption and the bad reflection it is having on the way people in the UK feel about buying in Spain.

The problem is that the big agents can afford to mass advertise,exibit and bring people over on free viewing trips hence getting the majority of the market,they then predominantly give terrible service and use people to give advice on buying that have either just moved to spain or were never trained in the proffesion,how can you take their advice on serious matters when they have none or little experience themselves.

Its a bit like finding an unexploded bomb in your garden,calling the bomb squad and finding you get a milkman turn up and want €10,000 upfront before he starts to kick it.

I know it may be no consolation but it does drive me mad and makes us so angry as the guys that are doing such a bad job are getting the lions share of the trade and the smaller agents like ourselves are picking up the pieces after the fact and if i had a € for every time someone has said we wish we could have met you before i would now own half of Spain.

There are honest people that are trying to offer a great service and will treat you in the correct manner and not overcharge you unfortunately most people find them too late.

There are good guys on here and as a fellow proffesional with our cynical eye they are easy to spot, the likes of rixxy,smiley,gillespie etc etc do make great sense and i do hope you get your money back in full.

It,s very easy to think bad of us all when you have just been robbed.

All the best and luck in the future.

Hi Guys and gal's

Many thanks for all your help on this matter. Just to let you know that I have now taken action against these people and will very soon (when the time is right) name and shame every single one of them. So watch this space!

T & J

Funny how names crop up

Just back in England after 10 days in Spain... got a lift to Malaga airport and the guy driving us very much a wheeler dealer, talking on his mobile all the time telling people they should do this and that and he was trying to sort a 'deal out' for someone who rang him and told them to contact non-other than Mark Tout to sort their purchase out. Having read this post this morning here was the name Mark Tout.

We found a mortgage broker through a reputable search engine.  He contacted us and we gave him the information of the type of mortgage we were looking at.  Lots of e-mailing later, we paid a sum of 750euros for his service.  Even though we have our mortgage in place and have paid him, he is always ready to answer any questions I may have.    He found us exactly what we were looking for.  Would have used Smiley, but, he is in the CDS and we are in CB.   

I did listen to the interview with Justin and Smiley, this proved to be very informative and gave me pointers to address by broker with.

Thanks to EOS.