Will I loose my deposit because of illegal bank guarantee?

My off plan apartment is nearly 2 years behind completion date. The solicitor allowed the bank guarantee to expire in Dec 2007. I did not realise they expired just when you need it.(I was never given a copy of it when I was given the contract) I have had so many different different answers to the question: Can I recover my deposit? Most solicitors just say of course you can, just pay a very large sum of money and we can get it for you.
A few others say there is no point as the bank will just ignore the expired guarantee, and will NOT pay anything. Another says I should renew the guarantee, but the solicitor is having none of that. How can I do that myself? How do I decide who to trust and give money to?
The longer I take to decide, the less likely there will be any money at all.

Dear Carol,

You have already been corresponding with us at length on this matter.

As a quick recap on all our prior correspondance our opinion remains the same, your bank gurantee has already expired. Unless your current lawyer renews it, something which I doubt she will be able to attain quite simply because a year has already gone by, you will be unable to claim on it. The defendant's lawyer will surely spot it has expired and will turn down the executive procedure and the judge will oblige I'm afraid.

Although the spirit and wording of Law 57/68 is clear and bank gurantees should only expire after the granting of the LFO this seldom happens and almost all bank guarantees have incorporated an expiry date. It's a subject of hot controversy but until there's a string of likeminded rulings it will remain just that, controversial. Unless of course the Bank of Spain takes interest in the matter...

Bottomline, it is too late. You are going to have to follow an odinary procedure. In any case don't take our word and try yourself to have it renewed although that's really the job of the lawyer you have hired.