Rough justice yet again!

Hi Maria,

Just for arguments sake, just imagine that you are a "buyer" who had not received and form of Bankers Guarantee.       The developer had gone bankrupt and you were now a "creditor" awaiting for any crumbs to fall your way.              If you received a percentage of what you were owed, would you be able to salvage the outstanding amount from the bank ??

Maria ...you seem to be now quite confident that cases against banks, where a bank guarantee is in place, should be successful.  It seems that Ley 57 has been well studied.

Please tell me:  If an executive case has failed through the first instance court, the high court and Supreme Court,  and is now awaiting a decision in Constitutional court, can a litigation case (ordinary process) be submitted thro the courts, or would it be disallowed on the grounds that there is already a case awaitng trial in the Constitutional Court?

The case is against Banco Popular refusing to honour a bank guarantee.

Good grief Mike, I cannot believe you are STILL fighting your case!  It's almost unbelievable!

 Mike: On what basis did Banco Popular refuse to honour the Guarantee. Whya have they won the legal battle so far

Belucky358: Yes, you would be able to request the rest of the amounts from the Bank.

Goodstich: I cannot see the governemnt providing thatlegal help tpo claimers. There is a figure calles " abogado de oficio" for people neeed Court action and having low incomes..

Maria, the bank argue that LFO's are in place by administrative silence and therefore the property was delivered on time.  I have had a meeting with the town hall and they have confirmed that there are no LFO's and the development is illegal.  My lawyer has also met with the town hall and they have given him a letter stating that the development is illegal and there are no licences in place.

He has forwarded the letter to the bank's lawyers twice and rejected their argument,  requesting that they excecute the bank guarantee.  They refuse and will not discuss the matter further.  They have told us we will have to take them to court if we want to get the guarantee actioned.

I am happy to proceed with this action but have a concern that the case in Constitional court may present a problem.  I wondered if you have any experience of submitting a litigation against a bank when there is already an active case in CC.  Thanks.

Hi Tish ...yes I'm still fighting.  My executive case went to Constitutional Court about a year ago and so far there is no response.  I fear that it will take years and even then the result may be negative.

In the meantime I am starting a litigation process against the bank as described.

I am also trying to raise awareness in European parliament.  I am in regular contact with Marta Andreasen, UKIP MEP for my constituency.  She is passionate about the situation in Spain and has raised the issue several times in EU parliament.  She verbally attacked Zapatero in Strasbourg in January as you probably know.  Her aim is to restrict EU funding to Spain as she believes this is the only action they will respond to.

Last week I had a meeting with Marta's media advisor and as a result I was interviewed by the BBC, local radio and the local press. The BBC only broadcast on the South news program so you may not have seen it. 

As stated these are all attempts to raise awareness, although I believe that all those who are in a position to help are already well aware and prefer to ignore the situation.  Similarly, the Spanish banks know the rules and they know they are in the wrong when they refuse to honour guarantees.  Unfortunately their lawyers however, are prepared to stand up and lie in court despite being under oath.

This shows the depth of Rough Justice in Spain.

We sued a Law firm for the non return of a percentage of the fees we paid to them upfront , on an off plan purchase that was never built. We had to pay approx €7500.  We won the case, the firm appealed, they lost and the Judge awarded us our claim +interest  accrued from the date of the beginning of case.  He also condemned them for basically, malpractice.  GREAT!!!!

Not so great:     Yesterday, my husband phoned our Lawyer to ask why we have not received our money. The date by which our money should have been paid  into the Court has passed.  Our Lawyer, who put an embargo in place, THANKFULLY, told him that there was a section of the Court that would action the embargo.....but it is slow!!!!!!!!!!!  The Courts etc close down at the end of July until September.  It is  now over 2 years since we started this action. We have paid to take this action at the big risk of loosing. It is diabolical that this prominent Law firm in Marbella can just "not give us our money back" AND STILL BE ALLOWED TO PRACTICE!! 

I wonder what would happen to me if I stood outside their office with a sandwich board on me and handed our leaflets to tell people what a bunch of sh******s they are???

What do you think of this Maria??

mike_congress

Is this because the bank guarantee says it expires when LFO was issued (by administrtaive silence) and therefore the bank says the bank guarantee had expired?

It sounds like you have been through all the courts in the land and still fighting on - if that's the case best of luck.

In terms of a timeline when did all this start - ie when did you pay your deposit? and how many years have you been battling. How many times have you been in court?

Would you be prepared to comment on how much all this has cost you and have you also had to pay money into court on account of costs etc and are you now being held liable for the other sides legal costs if your action ultimately fails and also possibly forced to complete?

I guess others on this development opted to complete and if that was the case and looking back with the benefit of hindsight do you think they might have made the right decision?

I would really appreciate you commenting here as hearing from someone who has been in the thick of it for years really does help others appreciate the long road that lies ahead and if they will ever achieve victory and most importantly how much it might cost them.

Maria what is your understanding of administrative silence?

Also is there a law against perjury in Spain?

Tish

Have you tried taking the matter to the colegio de abogados in malaga now that you have judgment?

Hi Mike,

As you may remember, I live close to where you live/work., so I would see the same news. I  didn't see it though. Is it possible to see it on i player? Do you have a link?

Well done you on your actions both with Marta and the media, a route I also took 6 years ago!!!!!!!! (and I'm still fighting!)

 Unfortunately their lawyers however, are prepared to stand up and lie in court despite being under oath.

Therein lies the problem. Too many crooked Lawyers!

Good luck Mike and keep fighting.

Who is this law firm Tish?

Faro, In answer to you question, we started out at the Collegio. I'm so sick of writing about all this now, (no vomit emoticon)  that I'll put a link in so that you can see the course of action we took against this law firm on a separate post ,as I need to find it.

 It's gone on far too long. We bought on the same development as Mike . His was illegally built, ours was not. Even though we were bitterly disappointed at the time, I can now look back and I think that was our one piece of luck in this sorry saga.

It is my understanding from our lawyer, that we are possibly one of the first people to (successfully) sue a lawyer connected to the corruption in Marbella.  When we won our first hearing it was reported in El Pais. For obvious reasons they were not named. Now, I would like them to be publicly named, shamed and humiliated.

Tish

If you have judgment and there is no legal reason or silence order in place then you should name and shame.

I'm guessing when you first contacted the colegio you had a complaint but now you have been proved right and have the judgment to prove  it so on that basis I thought the colegio now might have to help you more?

Ads & Faro I will pm you. 

Faro it is a long process that we have been through to get where we are now. It taken probably nearer 3 years.  I don't tust them  not to sue us for naming them publicly, POST judgement date.

Here is a link Faro:

http://www.eyeonspain.com/forums/posts-long-10843.aspx

I think you have seen this already. Having just revisited this thread, I see other posts made to which I did not respond Sorry! I did not get email alerts.

We had to write a letter in Spanish to the Collegio. As Account holders of Halifax Bank, they translated our English version free of charge. Both they and our Lawyer were impressed with our letter.  Prior to that I sent the senior partner an email, in  perfect Spanish several times a day, every day, for a couple of weeks  politely asking for our money back.  Not once did anyone respond.

Thanks Tish

No worries - some days the email alerts don't work which can be a benefit otherwise you feel drawn in and before you know it drafting a reply!!

But do let us all know IF ever you do get your money!

Ups... many questions here.

Mike Congress:  I am confused on the actions that are being performed in your cases as no executive actions can be brought before the Constitutional Court. Also if you are starting a litigation against the Bank on the basis of the Bank Guarantee now, what was the other action about?

It would maybe help if you could please send an email to me so I can see the full picture and be able to advise with more accuracy.

Tish: Did you sue the Insurance Company of the Lawyers?

Ads: Administrative silence is a consequence of the  right of citizens to have a conclusion to  administrative procedures started by them within the deadline stablished by the correspondent regulations. It cannot operate for obtainig a result against Law, of course..  Yes: perjury is a crime in Spain.

Being positive, we WILL get our money. We've not gone this far for nothing.

Maria, I was told by Carlos we were suing the senior partner . You could ask Carlos if you like.