Sorry for the delay in replying Jek. Only just picked up your question. (not enough hours in the day!)
Thanks for your endeavours in this regard.
I've included your previous observation in my letter to Diana Wallis:
"Please press MEPs to introduce a new EU law or directive, setting minimum standards for all member states to apply in respect of financial compensation for EU citizens who suffer financial loss as a result of government administrative incompetence . "
From what I can gather the CGPJ are not responding to complaints relating to administrative incompetence and the significant effects of delays within the system and their impact on the implementation of legal procedures. Whether this complaint procedure is automatically followed through as standardised practice within the Spanish legal profession, I do not know, but there appear to be no effective timescale constraints in place to ensure timely application of law.
Keith, as he has explained previously, has evidence to substantiate this and Ruth's petition also appears to back this up.
One other area that may be able to be addressed by the EU relates to Faro's observations "The local colegios have demonstrated they cannot self regulate, so what is required is a centralised and independent disciplinary committee with power to fine and revoke practising certificates and once a complaint is made it is investigated in a timely manner. " Again I have queried if there is any way that minimum standards for all member states can be introduced to effect adequate accountability in this regard?"
In other words, whether there could be some means of using legislation to enforce a standardised effective system that provides adequate consumer protection in both of these matters.
It would be of assistance to request that the MEP review both petitions in detail and look to the AUAN' s detailed site http://www.almanzora-au.org/ They have some excellent recommendations.
I don't know if this helps at all Jek but thank you once again.
Forgot to say, this was a list of overall problem areas that was sent to MEP's in the past:
The realities of purchasing property in Spain however have sadly proved
exceptionally stark for many UK citizens, innocent purchasers, as they
have been subjected to all manner of abusive activity in Spain, now
deemed illegal:
· Developers significantly breaching contracts and /or building
developments that fell far short of the required standards of
workmanship or failed to meet specification as per the contract.
· Agents in league with developers, providing false promises through
their marketing literature (this literature is deemed part of the
contract).
· Lawyers failure to demonstrate due diligence, providing contracts
with abusive clauses.
· Lawyers developers and banks failure to deliver legal Bank Guarantees
and contract details as per Law 57/68, to provide consumer protection
for offplan purchase. (for further details please see the petition
www.bankguaranteesinspain.com)
· Lack of supervision and control of the Spanish banks to ensure Law
57/68 was adhered to.
· Lawyers in league with developers placing undue stress on clients to
complete without LFO’s in place, under threat of contract cancellation.
As if that wasn’t enough, when purchasers subsequently fought for their
legal rights, many have been further exposed to abusive practice.
· Significant court delays, with no timescale constraints in place to
ensure that successful judgements were implemented in a reasonable
timeframe..
· Developers asset stripping prior to declaring insolvency.
· Justice departments failure to respond adequately to complaints.
· Inconsistent legal judgements.
· Negligent Lawyers obstructing the course of justice by failing to
identify banking information relating to where purchasers deposits were
placed.
· Banks reneging on bank guarantees.
· Major delays to appeal resolutions further compromising the
purchaser.
· Failure to provide timely enforcements or embargoes of developer
assets.
And alongside this scenario, yet more innocent purchasers have been
subjected to abusive practice (those who had completed on their
properties).
· Town halls issuing licences for properties subsequently
(retrospectively) deemed illegal by the Junta
· Purchasers subjected to illegal demolition of properties whilst legal
action remained outstanding, used as pawns in the fight between
regional and local authorities.
· Spanish government’s failure to ensure compensation in place for
those unfairly compromised by these internal political conflicts.
And these are just a few of the scenarios that innocent purchasers have
been subjected to, as many still await recompense after several YEARS
of delays, that continue to compromise the implementation of Spanish
law as per successful legal judgements.
Indeed, if you require further evidence please see MEP Roger Helmer’s
plea to the petitions committee within the EU parliament.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTrBbZOaqGE
With this in mind, I wondered therefore if you could please stress to
the present Government, the urgent need to ensure that other
prospective purchasers be spared these significant injustices, and do
all that is possible to counter any false claims (see below) by Spanish
officials in our own country during these road shows.
Until such time as the Spanish Government address the major problems
relating to the non implementation of justice, the abuse within the
Banking sector in Spain, and the failure to protect consumer rights ,
then it is essential to relay the message of BUYER BEWARE in Spain.
Here is some information from Keith Rule on the Road shows, together
with some comments at the bottom (Note Keith is the author of the Bank
Guarantee petition www.bankguaranteesinspain.com) :
__________________________________________________________
Sr. José Blanco the Spanish Development Minister (El Ministro de
Fomento) has announced that the Spanish Government Official Property
'Road Show' will commence in London on 4 May 2011.
In the official press release issued on 14 April 2011 in Madrid by the
Ministerio de Fomento Sr. Blanco said:
"The Road Show will highlight the strengths of our economy,
transparency and legal certainty of our planning legislation.
It is a good time to carry out this pioneering initiative because the
markets that have the potential to invest in second homes are
recovering and we must revive the holiday housing market ‘to speed up
the digestion of stock’
In selecting the countries to be visited in this first round of Road
Shows we have taken into account variables such as the volume of house
purchases in Spain that its citizens have made in recent years, its
investment in general in our country, the situation of their respective
economies and the potential for increased investment in our second
homes market.
The United Kingdom is the first international destination for this
first round of Road Shows because, according to the latest data
available, its citizens and investors in 2009 accounted for 31.5% of
foreign buyers of property in Spain.
In subsequent weeks we will also visit France, Germany, Holland and
Sweden. In addition we will visit also Russia.
The Road Show is designed in two phases: in the first phase the
Ministry of Development will transmit confidence to large investors and
brokers, offering all the information regarding our market, ongoing
policy reforms and greater transparency regarding the evolution of
prices and stock. Subsequently we will develop a second phase, open to
private sector participation, with a selection of real estate products
that meet minimum standards of legality, planning and quality through
an evaluation process in which agents and companies interested in
participating in this round may voluntarily submit their properties and
products”.
Speaking to Onda Cero radio station Sr. Blanco defended the need for
the Road Show by stating that "The fact is that there is a 'stock' of
residential housing and it is necessary to speed up sales because it is
weighing heavily on the sector financially".
He said "It seems that I have become a real estate agent but my role is
to ensure greater legal certainty to potential investors following many
campaigns against the Spanish property sector"
****************************************************************
Is Sr. Blanco really serious? “highlight the strengths of our economy,
transparency and legal certainty of our planning legislation”
This is an insult to all those of us who stand to lose so much due to
the corruption and negligence in the Spanish Property Sector. The
Spanish Property Sector certainly does not have any transparency or
legal certainty!!
Sr. Blanco said "It seems that I have become a real estate agent but my
role is to ensure greater legal certainty to potential investors
following many campaigns against the Spanish property sector"
Does Sr. Blanco not think that those campaigns against the Spanish
property sector are fully justified? (see www.bankguaranteesinspain.com
as just one example). What has Sr. Blanco and the Spanish Government
done to address those campaigns? Nothing! It is an embarrassment to the
country of Spain.
It seems Sr. Blanco is trying to blame the campaigns for the lack of
legal certainty in the Spanish Property Sector!! Just like the rest of
them he is passing the buck. These are the actions and words of a
desperate man hoping that a miracle will happen and that all the
campaigners will just ‘go away’.
Sr. Zapatero is leading a weak government who is failing to tackle the
problems. Instead they are trying to ignore the victims and move
forward with a Road Show to promote transparency and legal certainty
which are elements of the Spanish Property Sector that simply do not
exist. On 6 July 2010 Sr. Zapatero said in the European Parliament “We
stand shoulder to shoulder with those people, who maybe have had the
wool pulled over their eyes in the property sector”. More empty words I
am afraid.
In February 2011, when previewing the upcoming Road Shows the Spanish
Housing Minister, Sra. Beatriz Corredor Sierra said: “Come here calmly
and trust in the system that we have and the transparency we provide”
Sr. Blanco and Sra. Corredor need to understand that for thousands of
victims of the Spanish Property Sector there was and still is no
‘transparency or legal certainty’.
Despite many empty words by Spanish Government officials there still
remains little evidence of any ‘ongoing policy reforms’.
Lawyers and Banks have been negligent, the court system is overloaded,
judges are inconsistent and real justice is still an expensive dream
for many victims.
There remains a basic lack of understanding of LEY 57/68 (the law
relating to Bank Guarantees) and in many cases the law is not applied
properly.
The Supervisor of the Spanish Banking System – the Banco de España is
totally ineffective and has no real power. The result is that the Banks
have been allowed to ignore their obligations according to LEY 57/68
and work together with the corrupt developers to blatantly steal
purchaser’s off-plan deposit funds.
It is a serious mess and Sr. Blanco and the Spanish Government have
NOTHING to put on a show about. Before making more empty promises and
embarking on a Road Show designed to entice other unsuspecting
‘victims’ into the shambles that is the Spanish Property Sector Sr.
Blanco must, together with his government colleagues, rectify the
serious injustices that have taken place over the past decade in their
country.
___________________________________________________________
This message was last edited by ads on 10/06/2011.