Reliable lawyer needed

I am thinking about buying a two bed apartment in the duquesa area as a holiday home, reading through general advice on the forums it seems best to have a lawyer in mind before going to view properties. Could anyone recommend a honest lawyer in this area that they have used themselves with no problems.

Thanks Stuart 

Hi Stuart,

You say "...could anyone recommend a honest lawyer in this area that they have used themselves with no problems"  But the two don't necessarily corralate. 

I used a firm in Mazarron 10 years ago who I realised were a bit slap dash at the time, then recently I found they'd only done half the job - they had failed to check that the pool had planning permission.  When I took it up with them they tried to squirm out of it by saying that I hadn't told them the place had a pool - but, of course, a good solicitor/conveyancer would ask the question! 

Why not try Maria the solicitor who advertises on here?  She's passed advice to a number of EOS people with legal queries and seems keen to be involved.  Certainly you're right to ask for recommendations, but knowing what I know now, just because one transaction went through OK wouldn't be enough for me.

What are the legal obligations on a conveyancing lawyer and safeguards of contract rights in respect of the following scenario:

Offplan deposit(s) paid to developer. Developer subsequently breaches contract. Offplan purchaser takes developer to court and during the lengthy legal process and unbeknown to the offplan purchaser, a further interested party purchases the same property from the developer (or Bank if they have taken possession of the property in this interim period).

Is the offplan purchaser legally obliged to be kept informed of any subsequent sale or subsequent cancellation rights by either the conveyancing lawyer or the notary?

Hi Ads

I am not too sure which area you are actually in but have to say that I have not found Spanish Lawyers on the whole that "reliable" ... you use the term "reliable" ... I would perhaps use a rather less complimentary term! That said I may well be able to give you some direct PERSONAL from my own experience. Fortunately there is now a legal precent for the precise scenario ... MY OWN CASE! I purchased "off-plan" in 2005 and paid to Solera Trampolin +-€200,000. The Developer went and forged my signature on a Mortgage document (this has not featured in our legal case so can be ignored as far as you are concerned)  and then went on to sell the property to a third party. Sounds similar? OK, we took him to the Civil Court where he was found Guilty ... he did nothing so we then went to the CRIMINAL Court where he was found guilty of "Estafa" (Fraud) ... he appealed the Sentence and then finally last week the APPEAL Court upheld the Fraud Sentence convicting him to repay the mony and go to Prison. That will now become a "Legal Precedent" against which future cases can be measured.

Since i assume the money was paid directly to the Developer's Bank you have a second course of action in the form of LEY57/68 which guarantees a Purchasers funds.

For the former I have used Silvia Belso from RTDA Abogados in Alicante (also in London)  in Alicante and have yet to pursue a LEY57/68 claim. However BY REPUTATION I can suggest either Guadalupe from GM Legal Experts or Maria from Costa Luz Lawyers in Cadiz..

I hope that helps ... Andrew

I tried by looking at the list of Spanish Lawyers from a Spanish government list. I can say they did list the rubish lawyer we used. later after I sacked the lawyer for incompetence the Lawyers name disapeared.

Not sure who can help you. but keep trying. There must be some honest Lawyers in Spain.

This is not like recommending a motor mechanic or a plumber, where you can see what they have done, and get them to guarantee their work. My solicitor never noticed the faults in the lease of an investment property when I was purchasing it, these things only come to light at a later date. How would anyone but another lawyer know how good or bad a member of their own profession is? And having said that, no lawyer would openly criticise another lawyer.

Stuart

We own a property in Duquesa, a lovely spot which we adore.

When we purchased we used a solicitor based in Puerto Banus, no issues but nothing good, or bad to say about them. One important issue is don't use a solicitor introduced by the developer/seller.

Maria of Costaluz Lawyers has been giving free advise on this site for many years now and has helped a good number of Eye on Spain members. If she was no good I am sure that she would have been exposed by now.

Her office is based in Algeciras, which is around 30 minutes from Duquesa, so reasonably convenient (just continue down the A7 & just a few kilometers beyond the turn for Gibraltar). Look at their web site www.costaluzlawyers.es it looks as if they have a UK based office as well.

Ps

If you are buying unfurnished, there are a number of furniture/lighting shops at Los Barrios, which you will pass on way to Algeciras, which are worth taking a look at. We found Anna at Trends Muebles particularly helpful. There is  also a large Carrefour & Leroy Merlins (similar to B&Q) on the same commercial park, so worth a visit anyway.

John

** EDITED - Against forum rules **

Andrew,

Thank you for the detail you describe and good luck with your continuing claim..

Re, " Is the offplan purchaser legally obliged to be kept informed of any subsequent sale or subsequent cancellation rights by either the conveyancing lawyer or the notary?"

I was trying to establish how in the existing conveyancing system an offplan purchaser, exposed to developer breach, is protected/informed if the developer/Bank was to dispose of, or transfer the property in the interim lengthy period of litigation, or for that matter be protected from any fraudulent mortgage activity as you described, whilst their case against the developer/Bank was outstanding, or whilst they awaited reassurance of supportive case law and/or consistent judicial rulings and timely enforcement of Ley 57/68.

For the sake of transparency what are the current legal loopholes to the existing system and more importantly how can these loopholes be plugged so as to protect those currently fighting for justice (inalienable rights as per Ley 57/68)?

Why for instance is there not priority being given to establish an official trusted property register (with mandatory compliance) to identify if a property is currently still contracted to A-N Other, so as to prevent anyone else obtaining a mortgage on that property, or for that matter being able to resell that property without the offplan purchaser's consent.

What seems sadly apparent as things stand is that there are loopholes in the system that allow these fraudulent activities free reign! The longer this continues the more at risk the innocent offplan claimant will be during the lengthy litigation process. Also, does this place potential purchasers at future risk if they were to purchase a property that had not been legally cancelled (that is with full compliance of inalienable rights as per existing law Ley 57/68)?

Is it beyond capability to establish a fullproof and trusted conveyancing system in this day and age, with a property register that can be trusted and act as mandatory regulatory control against abuses by developers/Banks whether this be offplan purchase or otherwise?

I wonder how many outstanding offplan contracts exist where the developer has been in breach of contract (no LFO as per mutually agreed end dates as pre-requisite according to EXISTING law Ley 57/68 dictates) but the contract remains un-cancelled? Developers/Banks should not be able to take the law into their own hands and sell on property, which according to Ley 57/68 afforded purchasers inalienable rights for return of their monies when developer breach of this nature occurs. Inalienable rights should be fully respected in Spain and not be subjected to retrospective time constraints or contra legem rulings.

What is sad is that failure to address the heart of the problem that arises from a flawed system of this nature does little favour to the Spanish economy, or to those requiring reassurance that their purchase is fully legal and above board. It should not depend upon "reliability" of lawyer, moreover it should have a fullproof system in place with full compliance to existing law.

Hi, though some bloggers say there are good lawyers out there, WHO can we turn to when the Local government Council just take so long to sort the problems out with the Builders that continue to break the Spanish Law & carry on Building more sites. The fear of huge expense by employing another Lawyer is our greatest worry. 

I am sure there are some honest Lawyers around that area. Someone says the bad ones would have been exposed, not necessarily. If I posted something bad on here about a Lawyer it would be deleted. Then there is the new google law where items can be removed even if true.

Is it illegal to sell on or transfer a property which has an outstanding contract (with inalienable rights in the eyes of the law) without notification to, or consent from the offplan purchaser?

Ads: It is illegal. The problem is that many of those properties has not been transfered to a buyer but repossessed by a creditor. You can still claim your buying rights on it if your off plan contract was not dully cancelled and penalties organised and paid.

Thank you Maria.

A few more questions I'm afraid...

How can any conveyancing lawyer check if this illegal act has occurred?

Where are records of transfers to creditors kept (Bank reposessions) and are they sufficiently detailed to easily identify a specific property and the date at which the transfer occurred?

In the case of developer not delivering the property with legal LFO in place by the mutually agreed end date as specified in the purchase contract, would the offplan purchaser be legally eligible to evoke their inalienable rights for cancellation of contract and return of their deposited monies from that creditor (i.e. the Bank to whom transference was made). Would this be an executive speedy procedure?

If this is an illegal act then are subsequent purchasers of that property at risk of their sale being declared null and void?

Many thanks as ever for your advice.

Land Registry in Spain does not record off plan buyers, that is the reason Banks were made in 1968 guarantoors of the safety of those deposits buyers pay off plan.

Because Land Registry does not cover it, those properties are in the resal estate traffic as either

(1) Owned by the developer and charged with the mortgage as a guarantee of the credit Bank gave to developer.

(2) Owned by the lender Bank if developer defaulted of development mortgage repayments

Off plan buyers hold of the risk and no safety in this property traffic safeguarded by Land Registry. That is again, the reason of Law 57/68.
 

Thank you Maria.

Given the risks you have identified and the requirement for purchasers' inalienable rights to be fully recognised according to Ley 57/68, does it now follow that at the point of transfer of property ownership from developer to the lender Bank, that any offplan purchaser who has been subjected to developer breach becomes immediately eligible for contract cancellation rights and return of their deposited monies from that lender Bank?

Hi Ads

You will note that in an erlier post i suggested Maria as being a "Trustworthy" and honest Lawyer and see that she has responded to this thread ... she is also one of the best when it comes to Ley57/68. Part of this thread also makes reference to PRECISELY MY SITUATION where my "rights" were compromised by the Developer selling my off-plan property toi a third party which is why i won the Criminal case against Trampolin Solera and Rafael Aguilera.

Regards

Andrew

I would say it does as the Bank gets the position of the developer ( owner of development and seller of off plan units)

Please check with the Spanish Government register to find a good lawyer.

LOOK ... THERE ARE SO MANY POSTS NOW ON THIS THREAD WITH NO REAL ANSWER ... YOU ARE I BELIEVE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE IN THE SOUTH OF SPAIN ... MARIA HAS BEEN RESPONDING TO THIS THREAD AND SHE IS GOOD AND ALSO VERY CLOSE BY. Andrew