Bank Guarantees: All That You Ever Wanted to Know but Were Afraid to Ask

[Marie]

Would you please let me know how or where do I find "Registro Especial de Avales" ?? is it in the same bank, when talking of Bank garantees ?? I mean where do they register a Bank garantees ?? It is a special " Register" for these purposes ?

[Lawbird Lawyer]

Dear Madam,

Yes they are registered within the issuing bank or Insurance company.

So each bank will have its own centralised registry in which bank guarantees issued by any of its regional branches will be lodged in.

Yours faithfully,

[Carol Poots]

Hi

We have two Bank Guarantees from Cajamurcia these are both for approximately 38 thousand euros. we where given an approximate completion date of the 31 March 2009. However to date the property has not even been started. Is it possible for me to contact the bank directly to ask for my refund under article 3 of law 57/1968. How likely is it that they would refund my deposit without having to take legal action as i understand this legal action could cost up to 10 thousand euros and take 18-24 mths. These guarantees have expiration dates. I have contacted my solicitor with regard to this and he has advised me that they will be valid until such dates as the propery id delivered.

I would be extremely grateful for any information that you can give me.


Regards

Carol

[aflores]

Hello Carol,

Legal action should not cost you so much, as 72k Euros will attract approximately 5.000 Euros in legal fees plus procurator (800 Euros). It is possible that you walk into the bank with the documents and ask the manager to process them, but whatever you do, don't give them the originals!

I would encourage you to go ahead but equally I suspect that they will delay a response indefinetely or will respond you to the effect that they are not liable for payment since the date is expired (which as your solicitor quite rightly points out, is illegal). It is then when you need to take legal action.

Kind regards

[carol poots]

Thank you Aflores.... i think we'll give it a go.


Regards


Carol

[aflores]

Good luck Carol!

[Bob]

Hi, is it usual practice for a lawyer to charge a fee of 10% plus VAT on the total amount recovered on a bank guarantee? The matter did not go to Court and was settled within 2 months, insurance company paid out on the guarantee without need for legal action. I realise this meant no added stress and delays in receiving our money, but 10% seems excessive. Best regards Bob

[Blob]

Hi. Could you please help with a property dilemma we have? We put a deposit down on a property in Spain in 2007 however the development appears to have been scaled back and our particular property has never been built. There are lots of aspects to our particular case which I wont go in to details on right now however our lawyer tells us that in Feb of this year, he prepared the documents to present to Santander to claim on the bank guarantee. We have heard nothing positive since then and feel we are being "stalled" by our lawyer. Do you know who /what department we should contact at Santander in order to check that our claim has actually been presented to them? Many thanks

[lawbird]

Hi Bob,

Despite there being a guideline of professional fees regulating the profession, a Lawyer and his client can negotiate the professional fees in whatever terms they see fit and taking into consideration the risks to be undertaken by your solicitor and other factors sourrounding your problem.

If you agreed on those terms and conditions and signed a letter of engagement, then you must fulfill the payment obligations you assumed under that contract, despite that they now seem excessive to you.

Success fees are usually high, because they compensate the risks that the Lawyer assumed in taking your case. If he would have not been able to recuperate any money, he would have invested a large amount of his time and knowledge and not received the professional fees corresponding to that amount of time he has incurred. However, in this last scenario he would not have been able to come back to you and ask you for more money to compensate this loss.

In any case, with the current financial climate, almost 1 out of 4 purchase contracts are being successfully rescinded with buyers obtaining the full amount of their deposit back, so you certainly have many reasons to celebrate this time of the year.

Kind regards,

[lawbird]

Dear Blob,

In relation to your query, please note that the Spanish Solicitors’ Code of Conduct forbids us to act when there is another Lawyer instructed on your matter.

Even if this wasnt the case, the Bank's Legal Department is quite large and we wouldnt know who is dealing with your claim since we do not have the branch details, nor a reference number, or property details, or any other details that could let us know what exactly has been done in pursuance of your case and what is the current status of the claim.

I suggest that you contact your solicitor and obtain this information from him as he is the one who presented the claim and knows who is dealing with it and what has happened until now. If you distrust him, ask him for a copy of what he has presented on your behalf and an explanation of what exactly is ocurring. I am certain he will be pleased to inform you.

If despite the above you are still unhappy with his service or think that his or her situation has been compromised, there is a procedure you can follow in order to replace him.

Should you be interested in having your solicitor replaced, please fill in the following form and we will contact you with further information:

http://www.lawbird.com/services/contact

Kind regards,