After Fifteen and a Half Years, Only Three Days to a Final Hearing!

On Tuesday 20th October 2020 the Judge has scheduled a Final Hearing in our case against Banco Popular. 
In April 2005 we paid our initial deposit to Banco Pastor (who were subsequently taken over by Banco Popular) for an apartment that was promised to be completed by Christmas that year.

In June 2008 after a visit to the local planning department we cancelled the contract and engaged Maria at Costa Luz Lawyers to take up our case for the return of our deposit plus our substantial stage payment..

We were on the verge of selling our home to meet the cost of completing the purchase when, after the  visit to the local planning department, we discovered that all the assurances given by the builders of the imminent  handing over of our property were far from the truth. 

Funds (obtained via a charge on our home) that  we transferred to Spain in readiness for the move were swiftly repatriated and the legal process started for return of our deposit. We had had enough of the delays, excuses and downright lies from both the developer and our crooked lawyers who failed to obtain the promised ,and contracted, Bank Guarantee.

It has been a long, stressful  and expensive slog to get to this stage.
Our retirement plans were completely destroyed but we are now hopeful of a  fair and final judgement and most of all closure to the whole debacle.

This message was last edited by sandra on 18/10/2020.

Sandra I feel for you! I am presently waiting to hear about what Ciaxiabank are in fact doing, as their Appeal Court Hearing was held on the 10th of July and I was notified on the 29th that their Appeal had been dismissed. I was then told that the court deadline for the bank to notify the court if they were going to go further, th the Supreme Court, or pay up. After being told that I would wait 'a few weeks' after the 4th September deadline it is eight weeks (40 working days)...and I am still waiting.

I am fuming that the solicitors have kept pressing me for payment despite me stating my dire circumstances. 

Also, I went through my emails and found an email that offered 10% DISCOUNT 'off the final bill' if my case was heard with another party (so one party effectively piggy backs on the hearings). I asked about this and was asked to provide the email (surely a decent solicitor should know what they promised/offered). In the end I discovered many errors in the accounting and also I was informed, via email, that the discount was only going to be given for the 'first instance' hearing against Caixabank...which I attended and lasted all of 20 minutes!

I am going to publicise all the things that happened to me connected with Spain, and I will not rest until everyone who saw me as a mealticket regrets it.

BTW, we trust solicitors to act in our best interest, and continuing was the developers (only) hearing when they were fully aware of the developer liquided status and do not halt it and change things to include the bank and the developer - which has been the case in many reported cases.

So this cost me approximately 14k euros.....so the solicitor made a pretty penny out of my situation. 

The same solicitor failed to get my IVA back too with my first claim.....and this is not the first solicitor in Spain who seemed to think I was a prime target. I think we all need to join forces and do something about this because for the money we are paying (please check your invoices with your actual payments to check there are no errors) we should be afforded timely & efficient communication.

These solicitors are aware of how stressed we are when we wait years to get justice.

Hi Gill,

We have still not heard from our lawyer regarding the result of our court case on 20.10.2020 although they did promise to contact us within a few days of it taking place.

Quite honestly, since they did not send us any details of the place,time and case number , I am inclined to think it was cancelled because of the pandemic. 

We were told that our attendance was not necessary and because of the COVID situation we were happy about that.

We too saw the offer of a discount if we joined forces with other claimants but we thought the whole procedure was complicated enough without adding to it. 

I can only imagine the struggle you have had over the past years and the effect it had on your mental health. As you say they are aware of the stress we claimants have been under. They talk the talk Gill to any prospective clients or potential advertising agencies but it is action we need.........and the full return of our funds. After all we dId nothing wrong except have a dream.
Take care Gill and stay safe.xx