Mr Wills, London England - May 2007:

I purchased an off-plan property in 2003 in Marbella, due for completion June 2005. The apartment was one year late in being finished. Just before 'completion' I discovered (through a Spanish website) that the development was ILLEGAL and had no Habitation Licence. The agents I bought through virtually 'dumped' me soon after I had paid the deposit, and gave me no information about the situation. My original lawyer did not tell me the development was illegal. I had no Bank Guarantee as my lawyer told me at the time of signing my Contract that "It was not necessary" but that if I wanted a BG I would have to pay for it. I now know this is illegal, as by Spanish Law Bank Guarantees should be provided by the developer, without cost to the purchaser. Soon after the Malaya Case broke the developer was arrested, charged with bribary in the Malaya scandal and later released on bail.

At the time of purchase I unfortunately used the lawyer recommended by the agents (they took me straight there by car within minutes of my deciding to purchase), but as time passed it soon became clear that this lawyer was working only in the interests of the developer & was not giving me the correct legal advice. On the same day I changed lawyers my original lawyer telephoned me & told me I had 2 days to complete! This was the first I had heard of it! They continued to pressurize me to complete on an illegal property while I was changing lawyers, and I then had an almighty battle in getting them to transfer my documents. When these 'documents' were transferred we discovered that there was a lot missing. We reported my first lawyer to the Colegio, but nothing has been done about their behaviour.

I now have a date to attend court - this will be 18 months since starting court proceedings. The developer refuses to give me my money back, and he insists that the apartment is "legal" although he cannot provide any proof to this effect. It is also questionable as to how the utilities have been connected, as these connections are also illegal without a Habitation Licence being in place. If I do 'win' my case I will be expecting an automatic appeal by the developer as this seems to be happening to many people.

I paid 90,000 Euros to the developer almost four years ago, but still have no legal property to complete on and am now fighting for justice. Not to mention two lawyers fees, & the
costs of going backwards & forwards to Spain to sort out this mess. It seems even possible that part of the development will be bulldozed as there are far too many apartments
built for the size of the land. I am glad that a Petition has been set up, as Spain is part of the EU and has to be made accountable for the way this whole scandal is being mismanaged. The British Government needs to intervene in this mess and come to our aid as EU citizens.

Mr & Mrs Francis, Dorchester, England - May 2007:

In 2003 we bought an off-plan apartment in Marbella. Completion was due in June 2005, and two months before we moved to Spain as a family and got ready to move into our new home, purchasing furniture etc.  Our apartment was repeatedly delayed without explanation. The developer gave us no information as to why our apartment was not ready, and our solicitor at the time gave us no information.  We had to come back to England.

In May 2006 we received a demand from the developer to complete on the purchase but we had now learnt that the property did not have a Habitation Licence, nor did it comply with the original plans & building regulations. My lawyer told me to "pay up & take action later", and was obviously not working for me, but the developer.  We changed our lawyer & are going to court very soon in order to get our money back. We were not given a Bank Guarantee by the developer, although this is required by Spanish Law.

Ms N, Southern Spain - May 2007:

Prior to coming here I had done all my research and was determined that I wouldn't be caught out. I made sure there was an escritura for my house and land and felt confident with my purchase, as I had read all the horror stories re the poor people losing all their savings to dodgy developers. It was only when I came to sell and move elsewhere that I discovered I was in the same boat.

I bought a resale property 3 years ago and used an independant solicitor. I received an escritura via the Notary but two years later discovered the escritura is fraudulent. The catastral number does not exist. It states in the escritura that I paid 94,000 Euros LESS than what I paid for the property!!! When I asked my abogado to rectify this and asked why it had occurred in the first place she said "It is not my job to check paperwork"!!! But that is exactly what I paid her for! I am now struggling to sort this out myself.

Mr & Mrs Jarvis, London, England - May 2007:

We pad an initial deposit on a penthouse apartment in southern Spain in 2002, which was supposed to be ready in 2004!  The apartment is illegal and still has no Habitation Licence. Our previous two lawyers lied & colluded with the developer and the agent, and when we tried to get our money back due to Breach of Contract we were told we had "no chance of winning in court" & were only offered 50% back of what we have paid! We have paid over 200,000 Euros to the developer. We are now with our third lawyer and are going to court to fight and get our money back.

Mr & Mrs Goode, England - May 2007:

In June 2002 we put our deposit down for an apartment in Spain, which was to be ready in 2 years max.  After approx 2 years of being told that our apartment was being built, and even being sent a copy of a building licence (which we discovered was in fact a building licence for a different development) we were told that it was not going ahead, and we were offered a different apartment on a different development. We were asked to pay more money for this apartment (which we did after being advised that it would be financially better than asking for our deposit back etc.).

After approx 2 more years of hold-ups the site was nearly finished, but to our utter disbelief the developers wrote to our newly instructed independant lawyer, saying the apartment in our contract had been sold and was no longer available, but we could have another one at half the size for the same price!!!

We are suing for major breach of contract on many issues. We were given NO BANK GUARANTEE by the developer. The agents & our two previous lawyers (one of which is under investigation) have threatened us and lied to us and have been protecting the developer. The agent also still has thousands of Euros of our money which they refuse to hand over to us. We are now with our 3rd lawyer and are going to Court with a very strong case for Breach of Contract.

Mrs Kelly, England - June 2007:

Almost five years ago I paid a deposit of £15,000 for an apartment in Spain. To date NOTHING has been built. I am now taking legal action & at last have a lawyer whom I can trust to work on my behalf.

Mr & Mrs George - S.E. England, June 2007:

We purchased an off-plan apartment in Spain. Our first lawyer, recommended by the agents we bought through, misinformed us at every opportunity. They did not answer direct legal questions about the progress of our property. We had opted to pay in stage payments which were demanded at each due date, although the lawyers knew full well that our apartment had not even been started to be built. Although we were very anxious we really hoped it would all work out positively & that we would have the home we wanted and had patiently waited for.

When we finally told them we wanted our money back due to Breach of Contract (Four years late), no LFO and many other reasons, the lawyer stated that it would be no use going to court and we would not get all of our money back. We realised a bit too late that this lawyer was in league with the agent and the developer, and was not acting in our interest at all. Finally, the police raided the offices of this lawyer (after an arrest) and took away all the documents and computers which meant we had no papers to speak of, apart from what we had kept ourselves. We are now with our third lawyer and will be going to Court soon.

Mr Hall, England - June 2007

I purchased an off-plan apartment in Spain 3 years ago. The apartment still has no Habitation Licence and I also discover that the golf course -  part of the original plans -  is not going to be there. The golf course was the major reason for my buying at this development. The agents I bought through have their very substantial commission, and have shown no interest in the problems with my purchase. I used the Lawyer the agent recommended, but she also has made no impact whatever on the situation, and has just been wasting time. I have been left wondering what exactly are her qualifications. She now tells me she can do no more and if I wish to sue the developer for breach of contract she cannot help me as she 'is not good enough to do this work'. She could only recommend another lawyer who was 'good enough'. In fact, she confided in me that she is losing sleep over it!

You couldn't make it up!

Mr V, England - July 2007

I purchased an off-plan apartment in Spain 3 years ago, which was eventually completed!  But there is no infrastructure, with no pavements, water or electricity etc.  There is NO Habitation Licence & I have no idea whether there ever will be one.  I have tried to get my deposit back from the developer but he refuses point blank, & no doubt hopes that the financial burden this would mean for me in starting court proceedings, will enable him to get away with this.

Mr & Mrs I, North England - July 2007

We purchased our apartment in Marbella four years ago. We have no bank guarantee and were never informed about these from our previous lawyer.  There is no Habitation Licence/LFO.   We now have a new lawyer & are going to court very soon to try & get our money back via the Spanish courts.

Ms B, England August 2007

I purchased this property 5 years ago. There is no LFO, numerous breaches of contract, & there now appears to be a problem with the Bank Guarantee.   I have been given no information by the Agent who sold this property to me & there has been no response to my emails & telephone calls to them.  The property is now under threat of demolition.  I am now awaiting a court date.

Mr & Mrs P, England - September 2007

The developer has had our money for 2 years, for an apartment in Spain. He has started to return some deposits, but tells us that if interest & compensation is wanted on this money we will have to take him to Court & "fight for it".   We still really don't know whether to go to Court, or just get back the deposit & be relieved it's all over.  Never Again!!!

Mr & Mrs B, England - September 2007

We paid a deposit on an off-plan apartment  in Marbella four years ago.  There is no Habitation Licence.  Also, the apartment does not have the 26 sqM garden which is on the original plans.  There are other breaches of contract.  The developer has been pushing me to complete on the property, but I refuse to do this without the correct licences being in place. 

Mr & Mrs T, England - September 2007

We purchased an apartment in Marbella in May 2003, due for completion two years later.  There were extensive delays, & just before completion we discovered the apartment had no Habitation Licence & was 'illegal'.  We do not have a Bank Guarantee, as required by Spanish Law.  My original lawyer did not warn me of this fact & I believe was only working in the developer's interest. The developer refuses to give me my money back.   I have now changed lawyers & am awaiting a Court date in order to fight for my deposit back, plus the Legal Interest & Compensation.

Mr J, England - September 2007

I paid a deposit towards an apartment in southern Spain five years ago.  Nothing has been built. 

Ms S, England - September 2007

I have cancelled the contract on an apartment in southern Spain, due to serious breaches in the contract.  I have received back some of my deposit but am not taking legal action to recover the rest.  I have no faith in the Spanish Legal System, and will not be paying any money to contribute to this, with the possibility of losing even more.  The corruption in Spain continues to affect many thousands of people, & it is high time this is put a stop to.

Mr & Mrs R, England - September 2007

Three years ago we purchased a property on the Costa del Sol.  Still, nothing has been built.  The developer has now sold the land to another developer, who refuses to give us our money back.  We have taken legal action & will fight to get our money back.  What an absolute disgrace!

Mr M, England - September 2007

I paid a deposit three years ago for an apartment in Almeria.  Building work at the development was stopped in 2005.  There are many of us involved in this complex, and we are now waiting to see whether the licences will eventually be issued.  Hopefully, then building work will re-start.  None of us are holding our breath!

Mr & Mrs D, England - October 2007

Like many others, we are involved with 2 developments in Spain.  We have had deposits at both sites for 5 years and 3 years respectively, and have had our own new independent lawyer for 18 months now.  Our Case was due to be heard in Court this month (October 2007) but this has now been deferred for another year.  We, like everone else, are sick of the continuous lies over the last 5 years from the agents, the developers, & former lawyer involved. We just hope this petition helps in everyones' cases, to finally reach an end to this nightmare,as that is how it seems to many of us now.   With thanks.