12 Feb 2010 12:18 PM:

 I have a friend who lives on the Costa and is a chartered accountant. He is keeping an eye on things for me and it is his opinion that this whole thing will be a very long, drawn out process, as is the norm in Spain.

But it is definitely true that things are going from bad to worse in Andelucia generally, as the recession bites harder and harder. Maybe much later in the year there may be some developments, but for now there is nothing any of us can do except wait and see.

At least I am an official creditor now and I hope you all managed to get on the list in time, as I fear you will be powerless from outside the administration process. 

As always I will post if I hear anything new.

Barry

 

Community thread: Have we all given up?

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06 Nov 2009 9:47 PM:

 I got on the creditors list without the use of a lawyer, as I flatly refuse to throw more money at this. If I had not been seething, I would probably have given up half way through the process! Aifos and their administrators (PWC) tried every trick in the book to make it impossible to register in time - B****RDS!

I also looked into the VAT situation and the good news is that it may be possible to get the VAT content of your deposit refunded. It is only 7% but better than a poke in the eye. I will post when I know more.

I am reliably informed that it will take about a year or more to compile the relevant financial information necessary for the courts to decide whether Aifos can carry on or not, which sounds to me like a ticket to print money for the Spanish arm of Price Waterhouse Coopers (no surprises there!).

I have just returned from a trip to Marbella and the amount of empty and half-built properties all along the Costa is quite simply staggering! I find it hard to believe that the area will ever fully recover. And I detected a rise in anti-foreigner attitude that will sadly get worse, I fear, as the economic situation in the region inevitably gets worse for the locals. Shame!

I have posted before but can't find my previous posts on the website - don't know why - so some of you will know me.

Barry

 

Community thread: Have we all given up?

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29 Jan 2009 12:47 AM:

 There are already group actions against Aifos - all getting nowhere. Everything is up in the air at the moment and for that reason I personally want to see the administrators' reports before I make up my mind what action to take. Unless Aifos wriggle out of it again, the best you can hope for is to register your claim as a creditor (much cheaper than litigation) and take the money if there is any at the end of the administration process. Even if you win your court case (which you eventually will)  there is no guarantee you will ever see a penny and it will have cost you the best part of 10,000 euros in legal costs up to this point. You see it all depends on what the administrators find when all the accounting is done. Things may even change for the better, who knows?

We are all in the same boat, as you know, so we all will have to do what we think is best for ourselves. However there is a petition you can sign via a link on suzie's post further down this page. 

Hope this helps

Good luck

Community thread: Aifos´ bankruptcy.

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26 Jan 2009 6:12 PM:

Hi. I am new to the forum and have just got back from Spain after seeing my lawyer abut the latest Aifos situation.

It seems the Malaga court has demanded a detailed financial statement from Aifos and have demanded statements of affairs from all the banks who have dealings with Aifos.

I have been advised that I should wait before canceling my contract and suing Aifos as my status as creditor cannot be changed in the short term and clarity on Aifos'  true financial position will tell me whether it is worth spending more thousands of € to recover some or all of my money. I advise anybody who has not yet started legal proceedings to wait a while as it is not clear yet whether a costly legal battle will yield any results. Any embargo already taken on Aifos properties will not be enforceable if Aifos does go into administration.

In my case building was stopped on my block due to contraventions of planning permission. It may turn out that the administrators decide to finish Cortijos as there would be a large influx of cash to  the company when everyone completes. These are decisions that the administrators will take after the financial position is clear, so those of you who still have a contract with Aifos may still be ok in the future but this is not going to happen quickly and the situation stinks whichever way you look at it.

If Aifos does go into administration - and it does seem extremely likely - people already in litigation will have there cases heard by a different court but I failed to understand the difference this will make. Perhaps it would be worth checking with your lawyers on this.

My lawyers have already won  several cases agaist Aifos and got their clients money back with compensation but the new situation changes a lot of things. I would still thoroughly recommend them though as they are professional and efficient and answer all my emails very quickly. A friend of mine (chartered accountant) lives in Fuengirola and they have acted for him for several years. Let me know if you want their details.

 

Community thread: Aifos´ bankruptcy.

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