Hi all,
been watching with interest for some time but this is my first post.
Some 2 years ago I put a deposit on one of the properties offered by Duja on la Gomera - as have many others. Two years on and we still are fed various information regarding the current position, I have ditched the original solicitors, tried in vain to get copies of bank guarantees, requested refunds, looked at legal proceedings etc etc etc (as have I suspect, after reading this thread, many more worried investors) the end result - grey hair and that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you know things are not quite what they should be.
The best offer I have from Duja is they say they will transfer my deposit to a property at cabanas golf - not what I wanted but it may be a way out - what I was wondering was has anybody else who reads this had similar problems with Duja, has anyone else been offered this deal?, does anyone know whether Duja portugal would go along with this (I understand they are a different company to Duja Seville) as whilst they have made the offer by letter I dont know what or who to believe any more - nothing I have been told for the last two years has been accurate.
Reading the recent posts there are obviously concerns regarding the contracts for cabanas what i dont want to do is get straight out of the frying pan and into the fire.
I could go on for page after page but unless someone else is having similar problems it would probably bore the pants of everyone else so I'll leave it at that and will be grateful for any advice.

Hi kgfella,terribly frustrating - the whole sordid mess !
If you have an offer to transfer to Cabanas Golf,it may well be one to take up.
The problem is,as your experience and ours shows,you cannot believe anything they say.Going along that road you must get written offer from Duja Portugal as a legal undertaking.
If you listen to Duja Portugal,they have nothing to do with Spain.Yet here they are offering you a change from a Spanish Island - to Portugal.Doesn't really add up does it?
At least you have been spared the worry of receiving,as some of us have,Notices in Administration proceedings from Madrid liquidators.
The most frightening thing is that we do not know where our various deposits are held,and no answers - even from sources in Spain which supposedly are independant of Duja !
Just to recap .Try to ensure your money is not wrapped up in Spanish Administration proceedings,when they can send notices to us on a Portuguese property.
Best of luck.

Hi ceinwin,
sordid mess sums it up pretty well, the offer of transfer did not come from Duja portugal but from Duja seville hence my apprehension and as you say it really does not add up that Duja Spain can offer to transfer my deposit onto a property in Portugal - 2 separate companies? I see that someone representing Duja portugal has posted on this thread - maybe he could shed some light on the offer?
you say you have received notices from Madrid liquidators, again this does not make sense as I have not received letters regarding Gomera - who has gone into administration? do you know - is it Duja or the company that supposedly took them over? were they actually taken over?
Does anyone know what is really happening, i.e. how many companies are involved with the developments? (I seem to be asking a lot of questions but I have tried to get answers through the usual channels, agents, solicitors etc but never get anywhere and feel if we all tell it like it is then we may get a better understanding of the tangled web that Duja spin)
we originally used the solicitors recommended and like you have no idea where our money is - we were promised that nothing would be handed over until we had agreed to it and that it would then be deposited in an account which would be bank guaranteed - our new independant solicitors have asked for copies of the bank guarantee (which they are told exists??) but despite promises and more promises the copy never arrives - we have been advised that even if it did exist then it would not be produced as we would then be in a position to make a legal claim for a refund, which Duja obviously dont want - so even a bank guarantee doesn't seem to be worth the paper its written on - and legally (in spain i dont know about portugal) that it is the developers responsibility to ensure the deposits are held in such an account, not the solicitors - so we are relying on Duja.
Other option is to sue for breach of contract - agents and advisors tell us that normally in these situations the company will delay for as long as possible and then "go under" as they are never "cash rich" (if they already haven't) - so that would mean spending another £5k for nothing.
All in all as you may guess I am not a happy bunny!

Hi All, Just checked our position re cabanas golf. I do have details of account in Banco Santander that deposits transferred to but draft promisory contract states I should have a guarantee from Banco Espirito Santo. As you might expect we have nothing.

Hi ljs,
we received a copy of a letter from cambank, which I believe confirms an account exists for the deposit of Client monies for the development we were buying into, but we have received no details of the transfer of our monies to that account and no details of the actual Bank guarantee, which I believe, should be an individual guarantee relating to the amount of deposit. As I said previously my (independant) solicitor has repeatedly asked for a copy but Duja will not provide it - there can only be two reasons for this - 1) It doesnt exist or 2) They know that if they provide it, because they are in breach of contract (all of the dates in the contract have been exceeded), it allows the purchaser to make legal claim for the refund - which they obviously dont want.
Hopefully, Duja portugal will honour your deposits as they have actually built the development - my problem is that the Royal Golf Gomera development has not started and according to the Gomera Town hall still has problems that will take probably another year to sort out..........and then who knows?

Just sent you a pm
Joao

The painting is continuing at Cabanas Golf.Duja should get the Habitation Licence in December and will then start completing contracts...hopefully

With all that has gone on I'll be relieved to have it in our name.

Unfortunately there have been too many buyers who bought to flip on and have caught a cold because of the downturn in property prices and the way the euro has gone.Then there is the World recession.

The apartments and area are excellent.This is a superb part of the Algarve.

Buyers have a choice as I see it....complete and have the apartment they signed for or risk having nothing.I cannot see Duja being in a strong enough position to return deposits to all that appear to want this to happen...and nobody wants them to pull the plug and disappear ! It Wouldn't eactly be a first for developers abroad !

A disaster waiting to happen.....lets hope not.

The sooner we can get signed over the better

Tavira webcam..nice to see sun and blue skies in November

http://www.tavira.cienciaviva.pt/webcam/

The painting has been completed on the larger apartment block on phase 2 (on the left hand side going up the hill).They have started on the smaller block opposite now...also phase 2(ours) With christmas coming up looks like January is now a realistic month for when they will be looking to complete.

The euro has done us no favours.The only positive is that the eurobor has dropped a lot and that affects the mortgages

If you do a google search on "opomar" you will find the new apartments being built on the opposite side of the railway line heading towards the beach.
They have a starting price for a 2 bed of 235,000 euro's..so long term for those who have bought as an investment maybe worth while

The whole area looks a good investment. Once Christmas is over and the world is concentrating again things will begin to move more speedily.

Hi,
like you we have bought on phase 3 Cabanas golf. Obviously we have been fobbed off with supposed completion dates. We spoke to Celia in December who told us that she couldn't even assure us that the re painting would be finished by February. I think we have been more than patient with Duja but we're close to boiling point now. Weve read your notices so realise you are in much the same position and wonder if you have any more news on the re painting situation?

There are 2 blocks on phase 2..the painting on the larger block was finished last week..when I rang up 23/12 Duja were at the Town Hall to get the Licence on the block they had just finished..We are on the smaller block on phase 2,on the right hand side going uphill away from the sea.They have painted most of our block and I was told last week that painters are working 29th & 30th to finish off.
It took about 6 weeks to paint the larger block on phase 2.....as phase 3 is even bigger it looks as though you may go past February.
We all know the bad news about the euro rate...but the euribor has been dropping every day for the last 6 weeks...so delays could save a bit.
All very frustrating..we've had to rent twice this year.The delays have done Duja no favours...both phase 2 & 3 were ready for completion in June.There were issues with the colour which they thought had been resolved....but 4 months later they were told they had to change them and re-paint the lot.
Duja made mistakes and the Town Hall certainly made them pay for it..and people like ourselves have become totally peed off by whats gone on.
With hindsight I would have purchased a finished apartment..one day it will all be worth it..I hope

I think we all wish for hindsight...however I think you have still chosen well

Thanks for that pt matt I certainly hope it will all be worth it in the end! Certainly when we have gone over at various times it has been very encouraging... the build seems good quality. The one disappoinment for us though was the fact that there is a shortage of power points in the kitchen.. a minor problem at this stage however. Annoyingly we have booked flights for February which no doubt will have to be changed.. the second time we have had to do this. We will be ringing for more information soon but we always get the feeling that we never quite get all of the facts... to put it mildly. Maybe you could advise us on who best to speak to. On the off chance we should actually find out anything beneficial... we will of course post it on the forum.

After my double experience this year I will not book until I know for definite.
The apartments are excellent,as is the area.Unfortunately communication from Duja is poor and the ladies in the office are not always up to speed with whats going on.

Celia in the office speaks reasonable english and is always pleasant but the construction director,Luis,is the one who knows the answers and if you can manage to get hold of him on the phone he will talk to you.I found the best time of day to get him was about 9.30 x 10..provided he is prepared to talk to you and not get the ladies to say not available.

Duja want to complete so as soon as they can they will..very frustrating from our end but the bottom line is you can ring as often as u like but you will not speed things up...I have long discounted "a few weeks more" as I've had that since April...so whenever I ring now its just out of curiosity as to how things are going as opposed to expecting positive news.

I have Luis and Celia's e mail addresses but it appears that they just note what you are saying and don't normally reply.

I'm afraid I've been down the route of trying to speed things up but it will not happen now matter how many calls you make.The painting must be complete before the Habitation Licence..and that will take time.

When we were there is June we rented on phase 1...you can get some good deals and I have details of the best one's.

Its continue to bite the bullet time...I now accept when it happens it happens...done our heads in though...big time
Paul M