Hello.
We paid 30% deposits for an off-plan house in Valencia - we also paid in full for extra building work that was not standard (larger lounge, garage, an extra room) - the house was finally completed but over 18 months past the contract deadline due to various delays with the builder and local authorities (the LFO only happened a further 10 months after the house was finished). Our plan was to relocate. We sold our house in the UK to finance a large part of the purchase and were going to have a small mortgage to complete the purchase. So we rented a house in the UK on the strength that the house in Spain was "about to be ready"... this didn't happen and we have been in rental accommodation ever since (nearly three years later). Because of the delays our savings have been depleting, then during this the Pound crashed against the Euro which has now meant that we cannot afford to complete as the mortgage required is too much. So on the advice of our Spanish lawyer we decided to take the builder to court. The first hearing (in November 2009) took about 12 months to get to court and we now have another (and final hearing) in April. This first hearing revealed that the builder didn't have any money to pay our deposits back (approx 90,000 Euros) and that they have a large mortgage on the property. We are now hearing that the builder is in severe financial difficulty and if they go into liquidation the bank will take the house leaving us with nothing. Our lawyer says that we should win in April but there will be nothing for us. I asked the lawyer about putting a charge on the builder's assets and was told that Spanish law is different to English law. Our original bank guarantee was never renewed and then when checked it was found to be fake.
What happens if the the builder is still in business at the time of the April hearing and we win the case? Does the Court sieze the house, sell it and give us back the money? We cannot seem to get any clear answers. Some of the other purchasers on this development are also in the same position and 3 have sold the propety onto someone else and have taken a loss to try and recoup some of their money. This could be another option for us. Any help would be greatly appreciated before it is too late.
Thanks for reading this...
P & R