Mr Wills, London, England:

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.

Update:  I won my case, heard at the end of 2007.  The developer appealed, and the next hearing will be heard end of 2009 - 22 months after winning!  In the meantime the Judge has refused my application for an embargo on this developer's assets.

Mr & Mrs Francis, Dorchester, England:

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.

Update:  We won our case, heard in the spring of 2008.  We are now awaiting a date for the next hearing, as the developer has appealed.

Ms N, Southern Spain:

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:

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:

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.

Update: Our case is due to be heard in court in the spring of 2009.  We just hope that the developer does not go into liquidation before then, but this seems very likely.

Mr & Mrs George - S.E. England:

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.

Update: We lost our case, and are now awaiting a date for the Appeal.

Mr Hall, England:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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

Ms S, England:

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

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:

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:

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.

From 'A Friend' in Burgos, Spain:

In my opinion, this  (***) of low-rank politicians,dishonest developers and so on operating around Spain should pay tougher punishment for the massive evil done and still being done to us all.   In short, they have shamed the vast majority of the Spanish society out of commiting their crimes. Frankly, hope they all languish in their cells!

Get a huge hug from a friend in Burgos who´s sympathetic to your cause.

Mr & Mrs O, U.K.

In 2004 we began the process of purchasing a property in southern Spain. We used a Spanish solicitor to carry out all the necessary checks and conveyancing.  We are in receipt of full escuituras for both the land and the property.

In 2007 we received a letter which was the beginning of many sleepless nights and worrying days. The letter was to inform us that the Junta de Andalucia were in dispute with the local Town Hall over many building licences, including our own.  Our lawyer assured us not to worry that everything was in order, we had our building licence and escrituras.

In early 2008 we were told that the court had ruled that the Junta were out of time with their objections but they then lodged an appeal. Since this we have heard no further information or know what the intention of the Junta is. Fear is growing in our community that what the Junta wish is to make the licences void, and demolish properties. This has been the most difficult time as in recent weeks members of the local Town Hall have been arrested on allegations of bribery, corruption and crimes against town planning.

Having relied on professionals to buy property in Spain I wonder how safe and reliable the conveyancing process here is. Also, having obtained legal documents surely we should have confidence that these documents cannot then be overturned by a higher government authority? I am concerned that this could now happen to us and of course many of our neighbours. In a developed European country how can this possibly happen. Do these "legal" documents mean nothing? How can anyone possibly purchase property in Spain confidently?

Mr & Mrs A. Spain

We purchased a property in southern Spain via a British agent 3 years ago, and paid in full without a mortgage.  We still have not received our Title Deeds. We have since learnt that the solicitor we used  is a partner with this agent, and did not sign the Deeds on our behalf, although he has been debiting our bank account for 'Spanish taxes', despite the fact we are not named as the owners of this property. 

The agent denies any responsibility, saying that this is a legal issue.  The big problem however, is that the builder has received the full payment for our property via the agent, and instead of paying the mortgage off on the property so that we could receive the title deeds, he has used the money for other ventures and at this present time 3 years later, the property is still owned by the bank.

If our builder goes bankrupt, the creditors will throw us out on the street and change the locks on a property which we have paid in full for with receipts and contracts of sale but with no title deeds so we dont have a case. The builder has fraudulently sold property which legally does not belong to him and is clearly money laundering as he owes this money to the bank which we paid through a well-known agent.  This has happened to many other buyers via this agent, using the same in-house lawyer as ourselves.

We have contacted the various spanish politicians & organisations but  nothing has been done, and we have been forced to appoint a new solicitor to start a court case against the builder to obtain the deeds.  Now we have to spend thousands of euros trying to get this sorted, on what seems to be a clearly corrupt spanish legal system which is fuelled by backhanders and black money .  We are getting poorer by the day because of this disgraceful scandal, and ask desperately for positive & swift action from the British government .   We are not the only people suffering at the hands of these fraudsters. 

This lawyer  has been wrecklessly negligent when dealing with our case, allowing us to pay the builder at his office for the whole amount of 'our' property in full without informing us that the proper & only legal way to do this is to be in front of the notary, where the exchange of money and deeds can be witnessed. We signed over power of attorney to the lawyer to sign for our deeds, which he has not done.  They have never told us that our builder had not paid the mortgage on our property which we had paid for in full.  We found this out for ourselves by checking the Spanish Land Registry, and speaking to other neighbours who have had the same experience. This lawyer has been charging us taxes for owning a property in spain ever since we paid the money in full, and we have heard from other victims involved that this money is held in a 'special' account by the Agent, even though under the eyes of the law, we do not legally own a property in spain.