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Developer Peñarroya Sentenced to refund One million euros for Eleven Dwellings at La Reserva de Marbella

April 28th, 2008
Story by José Carlos Villanueva | El Mundo

El Mundo Newspaper – 27-4-2008 (Original in PDF) 

In the sentence ruled last 22nd of April to which newspaper El Mundo has access to, the judge Mrs Dolores Ruiz Jiménez revoked the eleven Private Purchase Contracts that the plaintiffs signed with the developer between the 4th of July and the 19th of December 2003.All of the plaintiffs who will now be refunded are of British and Irish citizenship. They are nine couples which signed jointly and two other persons that signed individually. The developer gave them a deadline to complete on the eleven properties without the mandatory Licence of First Occupancy required under Spanish law.

The down payments made by the eleven plaintiffs range from 66.581ˆ up to 90.319ˆ. To said amounts one must add the accrued legal interests which range from 8.300ˆ up to 12.478ˆ. The developer’s legal representative may appeal against the ruling of the judge. However, legal sources have confirmed the plaintiffs will execute provisionally the ruling so that they may start to obtain their refunds which they had made as down payment on the eleven properties.
Completion

The problems stem back in 2006 when the purchasers were sent by the developer a registered communication by means of a Notary public to complete on the properties on a given date. They would have to pay the balance which amounted to 70% of the value of the properties. Some purchasers warned the developer that he was in breach of contract as the properties were not being delivered on time as per the terms set forth in their Private Purchase Contracts. The developer was meant to hand over the properties in May 2005. Other purchasers decided not to appear before the appointed notary on said completion date due to the breaches of contract La Reserva de Marbella had incurred in.

In February 2006 the developer requested from Marbella town hall to be granted the Licence of First Occupancy. Three months after, in May of that same year, La Reserva de Marbella developer thought he had obtained said LFO by means of an administrative legal figure known as “Administrative Silence”. In June 2006 the developer notified the purchasers giving them a deadline to complete before a Spanish notary public.

Before filing the law suit, the affected parties contacted the developer through their chosen Marbella law firm, Lawbird Legal Services, by means of a burofax to clarify the legal status of said development with the warning that they would revoke their contracts if it wasn’t clarified. This registered communication went unanswered by the developer. This forced the purchaser’s lawyer to cancel their contracts because their dwellings lacked the mandatory

Licence of First Occupation

Moreover, a town hall resolution existed issued by the “Comisión Gestora” in which it stated that the LFO had not been granted by “Administrative Silence” to developer Peñarroya for La Reserva de Marbella. The 29th of May 2006 a local legal report had already included La Reserva de Marbella’s Building Licence as one of many which were undergoing an administrative process that was reviewing it, being one of many Building Licences that were revoked by the Junta de Andalucía.

The ruling delivers justice

At the Marbella law firm, Lawbird Legal Services, which acted on behalf of the eleven plaintiffs in a class action law suit against La Reserva de Marbella, the ruling was received with satisfaction. The ruling pends a possible appeal by the developer’s lawyer to the Audiencia Provincial which would make it definitive.

Lawbird’s lawyers have undertaken the weight of the legal procedure under the supervision of the head lawyer Mr Luis Fernando González Ordóñez. The purchasers contacted both solicitors tangled in the legal predicament they were in as a result of Marbella’s  general urbanistic chaos due to the lack of legal planning security.

At another Málaga court, earlier on this month, Lawbird won another ruling against La Reserva de Marbella which affects only one purchaser. She will obtain a full refund of €85,000 which she paid over to developer Peñarroya at La Reserva de Marbella. Until now the developer in this case has not paid any funds over to this plaintiff. Three La Reserva de Marbella properties which had been legally frozen by her lawyer to secure her stage payments will now beexecuted by him to obtain the refund.

“This ruling is yet not firm pending a possible appeal, yet it is a professional satisfaction for our law firm but above all it delivers satisfaction to our clients, all of them British and Irish”, was declared by Lawbird’s solicitors “at long last Spanish Justice acknowledges they were right all along. It is not admissible, as the developer strived to do, to deliver a property without the mandatory legal and urbanistic requirements for a first occupancy”.

In many of these cases for the plaintiffs they were their life’s savings or their largest family financial commitment. For this reason to those affected “it is a great satisfaction to verify that it is worthwhile filing a law suit before a Spanish Court of Justice, even bearing in mind the associated fees, expenses and time it requires, taking into consideration you are a foreigner”.

Lawbird upholds that “the Costa del Sol cannot be left at the mercy of a handful of very powerful developers, as has been the case in Marbella, undermining the good image of Spain abroad, specially in the United Kingdom and Ireland, whose citizens have traditionally been attracted by the lifestyle in our coasts”.

This Marbella law firm is specialized in defending those affected by real estate and planning problems.

Malaga Law Courts have more than 200 litigation procedures under way against developer AIFOS

February 28th, 2008
Story by Marina Polonio | Diario Sur

The files on one of the most prominent developers of the province occupy stacks at Malaga’s law courts. According to information accessed by this newspaper, Malaga’s law courts are handling well over 200 law suits against developer AIFOS for breach in the delivery date of the properties which are the object of the purchase contracts. Many Spanish and foreigners have purchased property of this developer whose developments dot the coastline.

The rulings to which this newspaper has had access to have condemned the developer to refund the stage payments to it’s clients, plus the legal interests accrued on said amounts, reaching even in some cases the staggering figure of ˆ329,000. Albeit the First Ruling Courts number 1 and 2 have actually gone further and have ruled that the developer must award the plaintiffs with moral damages as well. Magistrates have understood the “anguish and impotence” of all those people who have fallen foul of the developers malpractice, as it appears in the judge’s ruling.

Deadlines

Rulings from 2006 through to 2007 indicate that the “dwellings have not been delivered”, when in the contracts it specifically stipulates that the works and construction are to be finished in a deadline no longer than 20 months as from the time “the arquitect signs the acta de replanteo”. This is what it is specified in a ruling dated from December 2007 by the First Ruling Court number 2 , which condemned AIFOS Arquitectura y Promociones Inmobiliarias S.A. to pay to the plaintiff the amount of ˆ329,508 euros as principal as well as legal interests.

In other occasions, “not even the License of First Occupation has been obtained”. And so it is indicated in another ruling from the First Ruling Court number 9, of last year, that highlights that the client purchased “trusting that in approximately two and a half years as from the signing of the private purchase contract, he would have his home delivered”. The judge is conscious that the developer “cannot possibly sell a property and make use of the stage payments handed over by the purchaser without establishing some minimum guarantees as to the delivery deadline of the dwelling which is being purchased”. In this ruling the magistrate ordered the developer to pay ˆ92,742 euros to the plaintiff.

However, as is highlighted in another ruling of a judge of a First Ruling Court in relation to an appeal made by AIFOS lawyers, the developer “must undertake the responsibility not only of this erroneous and misleading information provided, but also of the content of the contractual clauses that the developer itself worded…”. The ruling of the judge overruled AIFOS lawyer’s appeal and confirmed the prior ruling which established the obligation of AIFOS to pay 3.900 euros to the plaintiff.

The law firm CYC Asesores defends many purchasers affected by AIFOS dealings, especially in Fuengirola, Málaga and Rincón de la Victoria. One of their lawyers has assured that AIFOS has a substantial portfolio of assets and that the developer had compelled its clients to complete on dwellings “when they had been declared illegal”. Moreover, he has confirmed the same data provided by an AIFOS spokesperson which has been queried by this newspaper and assured that ”many of these problems are now being solved by offering clients to swap over to otherAIFOS developments”.

Uncertainty

Judges are taking increasingly into account the rulings which award moral damages to all those affected. By way of moral damages magistrates have awarded compensations of up to ˆ14,000, ˆ25,000 and ˆ35,500, alleging that “the plaintiffs had to endure sufferment and uncertainty”. In other occasions it has been awarded “so as to help to withstand the pain and anguish inflicted by those fallen foul of an unjust, abusive and illegal way of acting carried out by another”.

Moreover, First Ruling Courts have also proceeded to freeze assets and rights of the developer. Witness of such is the law firm Lawbird Legal Services, which confirms having frozen “plenty of assets”, and thus has secured that his clients obtain their refund. This law firm defends purchasers which have had problems with AIFOS, mainly by dwellings which have not been constructed yet.

This newspaper has confirmed that out-of-court-settlements have been reached after some purchasers sued following a criminal procedure.

Grupo Mirador Sentenced to Refund Deposit to Buyer

January 18th, 2008

A first ruling against developer Grupo Mirador on the 17th January 2008 has been won by Lawbird acting on behalf a British client.

The client had put a deposit for an off plan property from developer Grupo Mirador through real estate agency Palmera Properties, at development Mirador Linked Villas, Antequera, Málaga. The developer had breached the Private Purchase Contract because they had swapped unilaterally, without giving prior notice to the purchaser, the dwelling that was being sold to him.

The court has sentenced Grupo Mirador to refund our client in full his deposit amounting to 15,985.87€, plus the legal interests accrued.

Purchaser at Cascadas de las Lomas to Obtain Deposit Refund

August 1st, 2007

Lawbird lawyers have won a First ruling against developer Fabricius GMBH & Co. Development Grundbesitz KG and against Houston Casualty Company Europe Insurance on the 31st July 2007 acting on behalf a British couple.
The client had purchased an off plan property from developer at development Cascadas de las Lomas, Mijas Costa, Málaga. The developer had breached the Private Purchase Contract because of late delivery in handing over the property.

The court sentenced the defendants to refund our clients in full her deposit amounting to 245,681.49€, plus the legal interests accrued.

Aifos to Refund Deposit to Jardines del Rincon Purchaser

June 11th, 2007

On June, 11 2007, a judge has sentenced Aifos to refund a British client represented by Lawbird.

The client had purchased an off plan property from developer Aifos at development Jardines del Rincón, Rincón de la Victoria, Málaga. The developer had breached the private purchase contract because of late delivery in handing over the property.

If this first ruling is not appealed, Aifos will have to refund in full the deposit amounting to 99,217.13€, plus the legal interests accrued.

Lawbird Obtains Moral Damage Compensation from Aifos on Behalf of a Purchaser of Jardines de Torrequebrada

September 12th, 2006

On September, 11 2006 Aifos have been sentenced to refund the deposit to a British client represented by Lawbird.

The client had purchased an off plan property at development Jardines de Torrequebrada, Benalmadena, Málaga. The developer had breached the Private Purchase Contract because of late delivery in handing over the property.

Even though the plaintiff´s petitions were not fully attended to, A.I. has managed to recover her down payments lodged with Aifos in 2002 for a property she never got at the Jardines de Torrequebrada development, plus moral compesation and the legal interests accrued. In all, the Court has ruled that Aifos is to return twice the amount paid by A.I.

The plaintiff is reviewing her options on advice of her lawyer and is considering appealing the ruling to obtain a higher compesantion package.

Update: Our client was refunded 39,452.12€ in total.

Links

Thrown Out of Court Aifos Claim Against a British Citizen Defended by Lawbird

August 9th, 2006
Revista el Observador

Lawbird Legal Services wins a court case against Aifos, who sued D.G. a British Estate Agent based in Torremolinos for allegedly posting libellous remarks on The Sunday Times, on grounds that the information published by the newspaper quoting D.G. depicts “real situations” which can objectively be proven, for there are numerous claims and denunciations filed by individuals who bought from Aifos who have either not received their properties on time, in the best of cases, or will never will do as no constructions has been initiated.

BBC Inside Out North West Series 8, Programme 2

September 12th, 2005

The Inside Out team investigates why one Cheshire couple’s dream of buying a home in Spain turned into a nightmare. After paying a Manchester company a down payment of £20,000, their home is still a building site. Inside Out looks where things went wrong for the North West couple who dreamed of a new life in the sun.

Antonio Flores’ appearance.

Full Video

Links