mermoz

hello everyone,

i am new to the forum. i just purchased property at XXXXXX villas in Benalmadena and i am totally displeased in the service they offer for the money i paid.

i would like to share some information with other people who recently bought in the area.

my main complains relate to the lack of assistance in moving in. they are fast in accepting your (big) money but then when it comes to provide a follow up, they just bla-bla-bla and do not act. as such we stayed 3 days without electricity, a whole week without internet. after 2 weeks, we still do not have hot water nor air con...

i want to move to the next step, which is bringing them to court.

any one in knowledge of a helpful lawyer?

thanks.

antoine

dfjordan

missile

Welcome to spain

Smithy73

I am not sure how to start this! Did you not have a lawyer to guide you through the sale process and to check the finer details? You don't need one by law.... but having a decent lawyer is the most important thing in a house sale here!

Second thing is - Do you have the "License of first occupation" ? I assume you do (I hope you do), as you suggest that you now have access to electricity and water etc.

Some things just don't move quickly here and connection to the utilities is one of them. It can take several months to get a regular phone line and broadband connection especially if it's a new connection or the connection was allowed to be disconnected.
What does your contract say regarding help from the developers to get you connected to the basic utilities?
Usually your lawyer helps you with this (setting up accounts in your name for the water and electricity), as part of the conveyancing process!

The court system is especially slow here for non urgent cases, with delays of several years generally for property issues etc.
So what you have described, sounds like many peoples' experience with new properties here.


The most important thing you must have right now is the license of first occupation. Then work with the developer to get someone out to look at your hot water tank and aircon.

Last bit of advice - change your locks!

mermoz

the lawyer i had was a last minute one, only caring to get paid but helpless once so...
i still want to move ahead with a proper one and take Xxxxxxx villas to court.
also, they sell villas with floors on paper (legal stuff) counting as cellars while they are actually sold as living space. i spoke with an architect i know well and he is telling me this smells like totally illegal. i imagine they "disguise" a legal villa of, say, 125 m2 into a actual villa of 250 m2.
they must have some kind of benefit of this. taxes? or simply they would not be allowed to build like they pretend on paper.
can anyone tell me an experience like this?
i have even seen in one of their other projects a garage door in the middle of a living room! they said they will take away the garage door later.
when speaking with the sale person, she said it was common practice in benalmadena.
i don't think so.
any comments please?
thanks

marilys

Hi, sorry to hear that, I´m afraid things work like that here in Spain. There is no assistance after buying and people get lost, I worked in a estate agent and had to help foreigners customers to do things like take NIE, contract gas, light, water, find someone for reparations, refurbishments... <removed due to no advertising rule> Normally people think solicitors will help with that but they don´t do that job.

Countryboy1

Forget taking them to court.....period. Your story is probably familiar to many who have purchased property here. Matters such as utilities are invariably confusing and in the end down to you to sort out. Sorry to say these things, but my advice is just to shrug shoulders and get on with sorting things out yourself. Regrettable I know, but true.

HeikeundAlan

mermoz
oh my you just learned a lesson, welcome to spain. Just learn from this,
Spain dont work like anywhere else. here is hoping you legal.

Smithy73

Yes on this note, you didn't reply to say whether you had the "license of first occupation" from the builder in the paperwork or whether your lawyer has it.

This is the most important thing right now!

Jerseygirl

I have removed the company name from this thread. Please note...you can ask for assistance but you cannot use the BE forums to name and shame.

mikelincs

Going to court over this is only likely to end in you losing a lot of money in lawyers fees, and it will take YEARS to sort out, I suggest you just don't bother with suing them.

livinginreality

Before proceeding with court action,ensure you make a list of ALL actions that you would of been responsible for.There is plenty of info on other threads,so best to do some research.You could waste alot of money,to then find you had'nt taken appropriate steps in the first place.(I'm not suggesting you did'nt)