06 Sep 2012 2:53 PM:
Hello all,
I haven't yet received a telephone call from Maria.
This is the first time that I'm writing a post in this forum. I too am a victim of Aureus La Lenea and bought a hotel apartment in the development through Ocean Estates (OE). Initially, I spent a deposit through OE and the main deposit was paid through the lawyer. I did receive some sort of a bank guarantee statement which was all in Spanish and that diddn't help a lot. It took a long time for things to get off the ground before they sent the diggers to start work on site. My lawyer told me after about one year that, the original developer was cheating on the contract and that he was arrested and sent to jail. A second developer took over the project (Next Century SL?) and managed to complete the project. Between the first developer and the second, there was a long gap of about 2 years or more and I did go there to inspect the progress on site. The development was fairly advanced and sort of nearing completion. By this time, I had already lost interst in it and asked my lawyer to get my money back. That's when all hell seem to have let loose! There was another long silence (seemed like an age!) and finally they told me that I'll have to wait for my deposit since the developer was bankrupt. It is impossible to get money from a bankrupt individial.
I decided to change my lawyer and went to another based in Malaga (Martinez Echevarria). He got in touch with the Juducial Administrator to investigate about refunds of deposits. to date, that lawyer has been repeating what I have read in your messages; i.e. the developer has no funds and the courts in Spain has allowed him "unlimited time" to pay back. Most of us will be 6 foot below ground and pushing up daisies when he gets round to paying out deposits.
I just learnt today that a similar group to us in the same situation has taken action against the courts (not the developer) in getting their deposits back. You can find all details on a web site that I cannot write here unless I have made 10 posts. If you check on google the following; theleader.info/article/35510, you may find some information.
Please let me know what you think of this and let's get together and do something about it. After all, it is our money that they are with-holding illegally.
Regards - Sreemal Perera
Community thread:
Phone Call from the Developers - And New Plan of Action - Must Read
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