Casa Santo Estevo

From the same newspaper.


Don't worry as house prices all over the world could still be in free fall.

whitelinen

Maybe its your lawyer you should be taking legal action against because looking online I found that Segural Decenal has been mandatory for the self builder since 1999.

Had there been nothing wrong with the property you would not have been able to sell the property for 10 years after the cert of habitacion was granted......

http://belegal.com/articles/showArti...ank-guarantees

EXTRACT

Bank Guarantees on Self-Built Properties
I am building my own dream-villa, should the constructor hand me a bank guarantee? The answer is no.
In this particular case in which a person has bought a plot of land and they are building their own detached villa the Building Act regards them as self-developers.
The constructor is hired by them and is acting on their behalf. In this particular case bank guarantees are not applicable as the purchaser is the developer.

However, Law requires the self-developer to arrange the mandatory Ten-Year Insurance (Seguro Decenal).

A lack of compliance attaining this mandatory insurance will result in this self-developer being forbidden to sell their house within the next ten years whilst alive unless expressly waived by the purchaser.

littlelambfound

Alan,
Your story is one too often heard. And I am sorry for that.
The Spanish legal system will not help you. It is absolutely rotten through to the core. Everyone who comes to "help" has their own agenda, and even more so as times get increasingly harder. (Even the technico suggesting pulling the place down will have some advantage financially from that very option). Justice here is too slow to be of any use to you, only to those wishing to escape it. And all the while you will lose everything and be saddled with debt.
To be blunt, you need to "up your game". Your best bet in this situation is to try and "sell" your house to either the builder and/or architect/technico....for the cost of the outstanding mortgage. Their friends at the bank will give them the valuation asked for. After some remedial work, they will declare it fit to live in and sell it on. Houses are still selling in Spain, and a large one like yours would still sell if the price was cheap enough. They would make a decent profit between them. But only they have the power to sell it as they control the processes needed to make it all "legal". That is the carrot. For the stick, you will need to go through all documentation and anything out of order (cash payments etc) can await denoucia...a police matter all professional prefer to avoid. There are many different sticks. It all depends on how easily you can let your life's savings wave goodbye.
You must look to your weapons, limited though they may well be.
My wife is friends with a woman met through sharing the same school for our children. Her husband invested in 3 apartments in a new complex near Gandia. All work stopped as the builder decided that the market would no longer support his project. Of 17 known investors, only 1 (this woman's husband) got his money back. A clue....sometimes the child comes to school in a Hummer, his dad likes sharp suits but always appears unshaven and he speaks Russian.
I have many, many tales from dealing in property in Central Europe which show me that only with a strong hand will you succeed in at least clearing your debt to the bank. Remember, that the Spanish regard you as a "roll-over" punter...typical English soft touch! They know that you will run back to the UK without a fight. (Not just the Spanish...remember all those English "estate agents" who set up shop here to fleece all those English sheep arriving on cheap flights). You need to make more of a scene (no matter how "un-English" that might be).

Mitzyboy

Saw the same happen in Raffelcoffer with a half built block of apartments, originally advertised at €70k, and then .... everything stopped

Fred James

The law was changed in 2002 to allow a self builder to complete without the insurance.

The only proviso is that you cannot sell within 10 years unless the new buyer waives his right to the insurance.

This will be written into the escritura.

That is why the architect asked whether the owner wanted the insurance or not.

Mitzyboy

I think I said this in not so many words Fred earlier, but seemingly ignored :-)

Fred James

I thought your post said is was mandatory now.

It is unless you are the Promotor and it is for your own use.

Your point about it being odd that it was offered half way through is very relevant.

We went through the whole process when we built our house in 2002. The initial plans had to be approved by a separate civil engineer and geological surveys carried out prior to the build - lots of bore holes everywhere and a 20 page report. It also took into account any potential risk from flooding, earthquake or rain erosion.

The foundations had to be inspected by the same civil engineering company and also the structure at the second stage. Cement and steel samples were taken throughout the build. Eventually, at considerable expense, a full report was issued.

This report was needed to get the insurance. We took the option to not have it and it was duly entered into the escritura. At any time we can use that report to get the insurance but a new buyer should be happy just to see that the house was built properly under strict supervision.

In the OP's case I very much doubt that he could have got the insurance if the process was not started even before the house was built.

Mitzyboy

#

It's mandatory for a builder. I dont think it is for a self build. As I said, I have a report on it somewhere. I was involved in a problem here, because our builder didnt get an insurance for our house, and it seemed he couldnt do one after the event because the house has to be checked by a surveyor or the like at certain levels, and this hadnt been done. I was offered a dodgy insurance cert for €6k but thought better of it. I am here for the 10 years anyway so it bothers me not.

Fred James

It depends on the promoter, not the builder. The builder is employed by the promoter and has nothing to do with the insurance.

If the owner of the land employs a builder then, as he is the promoter, he has the option not to have the insurance, assuming it is for his use.

If the owner of the land builds a house on it without employing a builder, he is still the promoter and again doesn't need the insurance. If he was building it for someone else he would.

If a builder owns a plot and builds a house on it for you, he is the promoter and you are just the buyer, so the builder, as promoter, needs to provide the insurance.

I hope that clarifies it.

Mitzyboy

This is often the case ... it was with us

kazic

Alan,

do you need to pay some property tax? You did not mention any additional costs to mortgage. is the house completely abandoned? May be you have further costs like maintenance, electricity, water... travel to Spain for the sake of inspection or court procedure?

Your talking about "waking away" or "declaring bunkruptcy" would be useful in the USA and UK - but not in Spain. This demonstrates that you are loosing this war and that you will get hurt in the future.

You should get rid of this property. You should sell it for any price or even give it away as a gift.

Otherwise, you next battle will be with the bank. You are probably not aware that bank will charge you even with the court costs once you loose that battle. They will chase you in Spain for a long, long period and you will not have chance to escape like in the USA or UK.

This "no escape" is very typical for Spanish property market. It is the major help for Spanish propert market to avoid collapse.

There is one Chinese book about wars telling that the wars are won even before the battle begins. This is due to strategical thinking and careful preparation. Your war is lost even before serious battle begins. You have not been properly prepared before entering Spain.