Hi
I am sure we are not alone!
Only a small development of flats and mostly completed and sold. There are a few garages and underbuild stores unsold which will now belong to the bank. There are also a few problems which the developer failed to put right before he went bust which I guess we will have to pay for ourselves now.
Do the bank now have to pay the community charges?
How do I find out which bank own them?
Any info from folk in similar situations please?

It might help if you stated which developer / development. Some developers have a builder's guarantee. Your town hall should be able to advise you who owns what.

Aren't builder's guarantees to protect people who have made downpayments, but the builder goes bust before the property is completed? Or do they have a wider responsibility?

My developer had a guarantee scheme akin to the HSBC.

Thanks for reply.
It is not a large urbanisation, just a local builder with fingers in many other pies, as they do! I think to go bust has been a convenient get out of building in this recession. we are not unhappy with our purchase and the defects are not major. It would be nice to find out what the bank intend to do with the assets they now own. Perhaps next time we go I will try at the town hall.
Is there a register like 'companies house' where I can apply for information on the bankrupt company?
Thanks.

Welcome to Spain
tuk-tuk

when i bought my house off plans 9 years ago,got it 8 years ago the builder did a runner so all minor faults we sorted,i think its bad but it happens,we had less probs than the neighbours,eg if you sat on the toilet you had to put a foot in the beday(spelling,i dunno)

11 houses,mostly spanish white collar ,still cant get a phone line tho we live in a built up suburb of fuengirola

What is your point?

Section 9 (e) of the Horizontal Property Act provides that any person acquiring a house or premises in a community, even when the title is entered in the Land Registry, shall be liable, with the acquired property as guarantee of any outstanding amounts payable owed by previous owners. This liability includes general expenses up to the limit of the fees assessed for the period to date of the year when the transfer of ownership took place and for the immediately precedent year. The flat or premises shall be legally encumbered for the fulfilment of this obligation.

This section is also applied to a bank which becomes for whatever reason owner of a property.
At the Land Registry you may find out who is currently the owner of the propertry.

Many thanks that is what I wanted to know. I now have to find the Land Registry.

I now know that the bank own the remaining assets. What a surprise!! Surely they don't want to keep them, a few garages and paths and a monthly bill to the community growing by the month? It is La Caixa. Next move anyone?

Next move should be calling for a meeting including on the Agenda the item of arrears recovery ASAP. The notice calling for a meeting must also contain a list of debtors.

Section 21 of the HPA explain the process

(1) The obligations referred to in section 9 (1) (e) and (f) shall be fulfilled by the owner in the time and form determined by the Owners’ Committee. Otherwise, the president or the administrator, if so agreed by the Owners’ Committee, may seek judicial redress through the order of payment procedure.

(2) Use the order of payment procedure shall require prior certification of the Owners’ Committee decision approving the debt settlement due to the commonhold, issued by its secretary and with the approval of the president, providing said decision has been notified to the owners concerned in the form set out in section 9.

(3) Sums arising from expenses incurred in previous claim may be added to the amount claimed by virtue of the provisions of the preceding subsection provided there is documentary evidence of the previous claim and that proper receipts for said expenses are attached to the application.

(4) When the previous owner is jointly and severally liable for the outstanding debt, and notwithstanding the right to bring a claim for restitution against the current owner, action may initially be brought against the former. The action may also be brought against the titleholder appearing on the Register, who shall be entitled to the aforesaid right.

In all these cases, the initial petition may be filed against any of the parties to the obligation or jointly against all of them.

(5) Where the debtor opposes the initial claim provided for in the order of payment procedure, the creditor may seek a provisional attachment on debtor’s assets as deemed sufficient to cover the amount claimed plus interest and court costs.

In any case, the judge shall order provisional attachment without asking the creditor for caution. The debtor may enervate the garnishment by providing a bank guarantee for the amount for which the freezing was ordered.

(6) Where in the initial application of the order of payment procedure the professional services of lawyer and legal proxy are used to claim sums due to the commonhold, the debtor shall pay, subject in any case to the limits set forth in rule 394 (3) of the Civil Procedure Rules, the fees incurred as a result of their intervention, irrespective of whether the debtor satisfied the payment requested or did not appear in court. In those cases where there is opposition, the general provisions regarding legal costs shall be followed. However, should the creditor’s claim be fully upheld, it should be included the lawyer’s and legal proxy’s fees, even where their intervention was not legally compulsory.
On the other hand, you probably know that debtors are deprived of their voting rights thus representatives of the bank cannot vote

s. 15 (2)

Owners who at the time the meeting is called are not up-to-date with payments of outstanding community charges and have not judicially challenged them, or deposited the amount thereof in court, or with the notary public shall be allowed to take part in the debates but are not able to vote. The minutes of the meeting shall record the names of the owners deprived of their voting rights, and neither the person nor the respective allocation shall be computed in when calculating the majorities required by this Act.

Hi
Very informative and thanks for your trouble. The banks must own loads of property all over the world by now with this recession. As for them not keeping up the community payments it is hard to feel any mercy for them when I know how quickly they would be on to me if I fell behind with repayments.

http://www.spanishpropertyinsight.co...e-association/

Looks like the worst is yet to come,...or just about to happen.

Wow! what a massive problem this is.
I think the bank in our case with their commitment to arrears and current community charges, the remaining property is worth nothing to anyone but those who already live there and they should be happy to offload it to us for nothing.