Alphons

Get an attorney. Your attorney will sort it out for you.
Chances are your attorney might even be friends with the right people.

I honestly do not understand people who live in Spain but do not have an attorney.

amideislas

Absolutely right. I don't know how you can live in Spain without legal representation. Your solicitor will certainly advise you of the risks of engaging in this -and from that, you need to decide whether those risks are worth it.

And yes, having the right "friends" can make a huge difference.

lieo12

I think you can't move it again. Even thought you should try once to do complain and listen from the system what they tell you.

Rosemary

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Scribble

Is this similar to the template reply I will get from Telefonica complaints department?

Countryboy1

Surely it's possible to live some periods of daily life in Spain without 'legal representation'? A gestor perhaps, but a lawyer? Essential?

Pocaloca

In nearly 13 years here I've never needed a lawyer! The gestor is the essential one.

amideislas

you're apparently not homeowners.

Countryboy1

I've no doubt you have perhaps more experience and knowledge on this subject than I do (no sarcasm implied), but other than at the time of house purchase some 11 years ago, I've never found the need to engage legal representation.
Can you expand a little on why you feel this is, apparently, essential to life in Spain?
I'm getting a bit concerned that I may be missing something here!

Domino

I registered and got my NIE
I registered and got my S1 ratified (twice)
I registered with Social Security
I registered with a doctor
I matriculated my car

for the latter I did go to my local abogado, who lives next door, he couldn't get the impuesto worked out properly so sent me to his brother, a gestor. He also had difficulty.
So I went to the Hacienda and did it all myself, toing and froing to the bank, the Ayuntamiento, ITV, Traffico, the tobacos who made the plates, even fitted the plates myself.

Yes I had a young lady who is a Govt Interpreter on the end of a phone if I got into hot water - but I didn't need to "call a friend"

Yes, we are looking for a house to buy but I am doing all the Cadastral checks myself, rather than pay our Spanish solicitor who lives in the UK, he will come into his own when we decide there is outwardly nothing wrong with the house we want.

Why do I need to have a "friendly" lawyer sitting in a cupboard waiting for my call ? ?

billgates

Last thing you need is a lawyer.
Crooks the lot of them.
In the pockets of anyone that will pay them and given a license to print money.
Try complaining about one. Pointless.
Get a decent gestor instead.

amideislas

Since we've been in Spain, I've had to use the legal system on a number of occasions. In cases where I've had a lawsuit filed against me, each has been proven to be completely frivolous and without any merit whatsoever (thanks to our lawyer), and in one case, it was eventually discovered that the owner of a house we rented (long ago) even forged a fake contract to enable them to make claims for €1000's that were patently false (we lost our original copy of the contract when our van was stolen), but after that little discovery, the entire lawsuit was thrown out, and the owner had to pay all costs.

NOTE: to the poster who says lawyers are expensive and useless, this case in particular is a testament to that. The lawyer never bothered to check the authenticity of the fake contract filed with the court, and advised us simply to pay. I knew their claims were false, but the Lawyer didn't care - >I< had to go to the court and demand to view the "original" contract the owner had filed, which turned out to be a photoshop fake with no original signatures. It was only after that discovery that the lawyer took notice... but we won that one, and so it all came out good in the end, despite the lawyer being lazy and unwilling to fight. Needless to say, this person is no longer our solicitor.

I've also been forced to file lawsuits against others, and in one case, it didn't go well, as the company involved had too much influence over the court - even though they were proven guilty of misrepresentation costing me 1000's, they got away with it all on a technicality, and I had to pay all costs.

So, for better or worse, considering the willingness of people and companies to engage in frivolous lawsuits and outright fraud, it seems to me that having a lawyer you can trust is essential if you want to live here. You also have to be willing to fight instead of just paying them off - which is what they are most oft hoping for.

Alphons

See, this is why a lot of british people get scammed out of their properties, they buy things without the assistance of an attorney - hence they do not check that their property is legal, then they get into a feud with the neighbours over some construction or demolition, and again they do not contact a solicitor and things just get worse.

You should have an attorney onboard from day one, he'll check that the property is legal and has the required permissions and all that, and when your neighbour starts bricking up your windows and building a house directly onto your wall, that's when you need an attorney and not "your m8 from Doncaster's advice".

billgates

Right, and that's why so many people have found that their beloved home is illegal after their lawyer assuring them that it's legit.

Our own lawyer bungled up our purchase and rather than suing her for it we're still paying for her corrections.

Lawyers, what are they good for? Absolutely nothing! Say it again, Lawyers, what are they good for? Absolutely nothing! Say it again...etc.

Domino

rightly - or wrongly - during our house search I am doing all the Cadastral checks, ensuring the properties have the correct information filed.
OK so the Cadastral may be faulty
but when I found a property sitting in the middle of an agricultural plot, I started looking harder. Yes it is shown as urban, but the annexe and swimming pool are not shown. There is a road, but it stops at the boundary of the property according to the Cadastral. The agent protesting "but I can assure you it is fully legal" has now had a flea in his ear, and gone away muttering he will carry out further investigations.

these sorts of checks are easy in Spain, why pay a solicitor to do what I can do ?? If there is any doubt I will withdraw from the property - as I did with another that had a road not shown on the Cadastral, more importantly the other 6 houses in the "street" were not shown so all illegal and more importantly the mains water to the next street will never be laid on until this is all resolved.
I don't want to be hit with a big bill for back rates, street tarmacing or water connection a decade or so after buying the house