Banks Liability Under LEY 57/68

Thanks for reply Keith and sorry for my misunderstanding.

You have my full support and I think you are doing a tremendous job. As you may have seen on the 'rough justice' thread I am in the process of contacting MEPs/MPS etc. I see now Marias firm is offering "low cost" action for everyone else on bank guarantees etc. As you may appreciate I have thrown many many thousands of wasted legal fees already at this and am reluctant to commit any more.

I wish you well.

john

 http://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/costaluz/3569/legal-tip-277-low-cost-action-against-banks-manifesto-by-costaluzlawyers.aspx

Legal tip 277. Low cost action against Banks. Manifesto by Costaluzlawyers 
22 May 2010 @ 08:46 

Maria,

What happens if one of the ailing Caja's relating to their claim (i.e. didn't provide a bank guarantee) goes into administration during this legal process that you are advocating? Where does the client stand in terms of retrieving their monies (assuming they have won their original legal case against the developer for breach of contract)?

This message was last edited by ads on 24/05/2010.

Government or any other entity taking over the Bank/Caja would respond.

Best,

MAria

Hi Keith110, well done you.   living in Spain and knowing the beurocracy involved I know how much time and effort you must have put into forming your action group I wish you and your group all the best in your efforts.

Thanks for your swift response Maria.

Given that the government have not proved in the slightest sympathetic to the concerns of those caught up in the property scandal to date, how optimistic would you be re taking on the Spanish government or other entity in the event that the Caja Bank(s) went into administration during the process that you are advocating.

Would this not prove another highly risky  and time-consuming exercise?

Sorry if this sounds pessimistic, but I am trying to establish some realism given the above scenario and the news just in re Cajasur Bank.

Everything requires an effort. But we have the tools,  teh legal technique, the persons and the determination.

Best regards,

MAria

LEY 57/1968 is a short but very important Law which was implemented in the Public Interest on 27 July 1968 specifically to safeguard purchasers deposits paid in good faith to developers for off-plan properties.

The preamble of the Law explains clearly the reasons for its implementation.

The preamble states that there was justified public alarm at the fact that repeated abuses had been taking place with regards to off-plan deposits.  It says the abuses which were obvious criminal acts had a serious disruption of social life, constituted a serious alteration of the social coexistence and caused irreparable damage to trust and good faith.  It says LEY 57/68 was being introduced in the Public Interest to create general preventative standards to ensure the real and effective protection of funds paid in advance by purchasers and to ensure they received a refund in the event that the house building did not take effect.

It appears that 40 years after LEY 57/68 was implemented we are experiencing the same 'repeated abuses' and 'obvious criminal acts'  We now have the exact same situation of a 'serious disruption of social life' which unfortunately for many innocent purchasers has again caused 'irreparable damage to trust and good faith'.

This is a serious public order matter that the Spanish Authorities must tackle immediately.

LEY 57/68 is very clear and provides absolute protection for the purchaser.

It is not LEY 57/68 that has failed.

The failure is that of the authorities whose duty it was to uphold the rule of Law.  Shame on them. 

Anyone affected by any type of Bank Guarantee abuse please join the Bank Guarantees in Spain Petition at

www.bankguaranteesinspain.com

Kind regards

Keith

Seven years ago  this coming June we engaged a lawyer to cancel our contract with the developer of our off-plan property and secure a refund of our deposit of 100,000.00 euros.

So far she has managed to cancel our contract with the developer and to win a case against the developer. Non of these actions resulted in a refund. 

Last August she asked us for more  funds to start a case against the bank (Banco Pastor) to which we paid the deposit. We have heard nothing since we sent the 6,000.00 Euros in September and after requesting an update about two weeks ago  we were told that they are doing some  internal reorganising but will try and get back to us with an update ASAP.

Can anyone tell me if the Fuengirola and Malaga courts are still dealing with backlogs of cases? I expected our lawyer to send us a date for the new court case but so far they have swallowed our money and we have heard nothing.

Thank you for the mesages. Our lawyer has now informed us that the barrister is preparing our case and that it should go to court in April (2015).   Six months still seems a long time to wait but I expect as we get older (it is ten years since we paid our deposit) our patience with certain things wears very thin.

I'm glad this thread has been re-started. could you possibly keep us updated on this Sandra? That would be really appreciated. It's something that I think many of us are still going through. So much uncertainty, so much money!

We are still going through it we are in a joint action with hundreds of others we paid our deposit 15 years ago via Palmera Properties our group is the Costa Del Sol Action Group hopefully will get to court this year

Our Court Case date against the Bank is not until November 2015. We got this date through in October 2014 exactly 8 years after we put our deposit on. It's nearly 5 years since we won our case against the developer and over 2 years since the developer went bankrupt without paying us any of the money authorised by the Courts.

Patiently waiting 

Good to get feedback from other people. 
We took the developers to court in 2008 and won the case. Of course they appealled (twice) which we also won. 
In 2010, the developers went bankrupt and so we are still awaiting our money which our solicitor says we will get back, no problem. 
However, out of frustration at no news, I have contacted the administrators who say there is 'almost zero chance' of us getting our money back. 
So the only option now seems to be take the bank to court but of course even if the case is won, there is no guarantee they will actually pay.

I fully understand your frustrations and cannot say otherwise than all these long waiting would have never happened if you had had an independent lawyer working  seriopusly to care for your interests when you were buying in Spain. This is at the center of many of your problems.

I am confident that after existing case Law on the importance of Bank Guarantees, this will not happen again.

Thank you for that Maria. I wonder, can you tell us if any lawyer in Spain has been the subject of legal proceedings following their failure to secure the legally required bank guarantee for their client/s and if not then why?

Yes, it has been.

There is increasing Case Law in regards to that now.

Hi Maria

So, just to be clear on this, if as a purchaser of an Off Plan Property in Spain and even if the property was eventually built and FOL granted but you never completed the purchase, you could still make a claim against the original Lawyer if they failed to collect any bank guarantees for your deposits??? and especially when you have written copy from the original lawyer at the start of the buying process, clearly stating that they would collect all bank guarantees realting to the purchase. 

If this is the case, surely there would be a flood of good lawyers in Spain advertsing a no win no fees policy, to claim against the bad lawyers who misrepresented thousands of buyers over so many years if there is in fact case law realting to this abuse???  or is it like most other things in the Spanish legal system where there is no 100% guarantee of ever getting your money back even when case law exists???

As years pass and the observation and interpretation of events can be more and more objective, I still think Financial Systems, lack of control.. not just in Spain but also in Europe and the whole occidental side of the world made the mess. It is simple and clear.

Many other actors danced at that party but.... there were clear promoters, organisers and benefitted.

Answering your question below:

Josey:

Asking you below in bold green (same text as your message):

So, just to be clear on this, if as a purchaser of an Off Plan Property in Spain and even if the property was eventually built and FOL granted but you never completed the purchase, you could still make a claim against the original Lawyer if they failed to collect any bank guarantees for your deposits???  No, you cannot, you need to prove an effective damage arising from the fact of lack of Bank Guarantee. and especially when you have written copy from the original lawyer at the start of the buying process, clearly stating that they would collect all bank guarantees realting to the purchase. 

If this is the case, surely there would be a flood of good lawyers in Spain advertsing a no win no fees policy, to claim against the bad lawyers who misrepresented thousands of buyers over so many years if there is in fact case law realting to this abuse???  or is it like most other things in the Spanish legal system where there is no 100% guarantee of ever getting your money back even when case law exists???

Let me kindly reply to last assertion, for your peace of mind:

Judges are interpreting Law quite correctly, in my opinion in favor of off plan buyers in Spain ( with exception of one particulart region, need to add here).

Supreme Court is being quite fair and brave when interpreting Law 57/68 and, from 1968 Spain has a Law which protects off plan buyers  fiercely when buying off plan. No similar Law known at any other country in the world.

A different matter is the particular ( and generalised, unfortunately, due to aggressive finance policies) of Banks, agents, developers, lawyers.... inmersed in the off plan investment-buying crazy world of those years.

It happened in Spain but there were many foreign interests playing their role. Let me reiterate this opinion. Let´s be honest and truthful to oursleves. It is the only way to avoid same mistakes in the future.

Case Law protecting these buyers is now highly reinforced, this Law Firm, has deccisively contributed to that. ;)

With all respect always... willing to listed to opinions after all these years.