The title is perhaps not entirely correct as the developer was not part of the ruling, but a reseller that answers to the name of Bancales Inversiones S.L., a company that had bought to resell a particular unit at Los Lagos de Santa María.

On a recent Court decision, the Appeal Court reversed (again) an earlier ruling by the Marbella Court of First Instance 5 who had found this company not responsible for delivering a property that was granted occupancy rights by means of a license that ran against local planning ordinances.

Roberto Leiro Bascones, acting for the claimants, convinced the Appeal Court that having a finished property with adequate supplies is not enough to “effectively transfer ownership” where the license of occupancy was not granted, or was granted via that fiction, or loophole, called “administrative silence” when, as is the case here, violated planning regulations.

As a result, the Malaga Appeal Courts ordered Bancales Inversiones to reimburse over 60k Euros to the claimants.