15 Oct 2008 2:04 PM:
Hi. I was assured by the estate agent Belmonte International that we would be able to have a refund should we change our minds, which we did once we heard how many units will now be built and the length of time it has taken to get to the permit stage. This is the email I recdeived from them:
*****************
I have now managed to speak with the solicitor for Millennium Lifestyle who are the land owners and the new developer of the Caravaca site.
Millennium Lifestyle say that as the developers of the site they will honor the terms of your contract as such as they will deliver the same property, on the same plot at the same price. All licenses will be in place from the end of October and the delivery of your property will be 24 months from then. With regards to obtaining a refund, Millennium Lifestyle say that as they never received any of the deposit funds they can not give back money they never had in the first place. As you recall the deposit was paid to llanera.
So, I contacted Llanera asking them to refund your money, and they said that they would need a letter saying why you wanted to cancel. This letter then goes to the board, who sit around and decide whether or not to issue you a refund. An absolutely ridiculous situation I know, in terms of time scale for all this to happen I don´t know. Llanera are in "Suspension de Pagos" which is basically means they are in receivership, I spoke with a good friend of mine who is a lawyer and he tells me this could be a long process which may not achieve the desired results, but it could run up significant legal costs.
Several options open to us here.
- Send Llanera the letter as they ask and wait and see what happens.
- Involve a solicitor and see if they can assist in the matter, this will incur additional costs.
- Should you buy another property then I will ensure you are reimbursed for your deposit.
Please come back to me with your thoughts and we can move forward accordingly.
************************
Doesn't reassure me about handing over any more money!!! Especially as it saays if I buy another property from them they'll ensure I get my money back.... if they can do that, how come they can't honour the guarantee that I could have the deposit back at any stage before paying the balance?
Has anyone been able to get their deposit back?
Community thread:
Planning permit
--------------------------------------