buying off-plan abroad - cancel contract

avicola

Also, check whether any adverse publicity affects your claim? May not be relevant, but just in case.[/quote]

Do you mean if I start being slanderous towards the developers or estate agents?

It is certainly a consideration and of course i would not want to do anything to jeopordize the case.

Captain_Mainwaring_2

avicola wrote: »

Went to the solicitor again yesterday. Didn't read your post though Markelock, till we got back.

We do have confidence in him as far as we can in anyone right now. He has been a solicitor for 30 years, (his father was also one) and has experience of very similar cases. His office is buzzing with various staff who dash off to deal with his instructions. He has got the names, phone numbers and relevant information he needs at hand to deal with our case. There are people waiting to see him, the phone is ringing, so a general air of activity. He appears to be dynamic, still with a great thirst for business.

When pressed for the likely degree of success, he said he wouldn’t have taken it on if he didn’t think he was going to win it. (Though we know that he wins either way.) He knows that basically all our hopes are with him and, let’s fact it, he stands to gain an awful lot if he wins for us.

Time wise, we may know at any stage after 3 days. And if it was him, he would give us the deposit money straight back just so that they could get on selling them.

But there might be a need to negotiate what percentage we would get back is what he says. And we realise that nothing is a foregone conclusion that we would get anything back.

And of course the developers might have gone bust and then we probably wouldn’t get anything anyway. That might explain why they have only given us 3 weeks to complete.

But we still have to do try anyway.

Good God you are gullible - you thought you could sell the flats too!!

Don't fall for that stuff !!

What is the possible connexion between his Dad being a lawyer and him being any good? Sounds like you are lulling yourself a bit here.

Ask him for case law showing why you stand a chance of winning.

He also stands to gain if he loses for you .

You still keep saying "get back", what about if they pursue you for damages for failing to complete? If you got anything back I'd say you were very lucky.

moneysavinmonkey

avicola wrote: »

We do have confidence in him as far as we can in anyone right now. He has been a solicitor for 30 years, (his father was also one) and has experience of very similar cases. His office is buzzing with various staff who dash off to deal with his instructions. He has got the names, phone numbers and relevant information he needs at hand to deal with our case. There are people waiting to see him, the phone is ringing, so a general air of activity. He appears to be dynamic, still with a great thirst for business.

avicola...you post really has me in a state of despair!! think seriously what does any of this that you have written got anything to do with the likelihood that you will win any case against the developers?? You need to deal with the relevant details. Did your solicitor explain about the law in Spain to do with contract penalties? Did he tell you whether a contract signed without a translation/explanation is valid? Did he give examples of any other clients he has had in a similar situation - what was the outcome? Is there any examples of case law he can give you. What is the best/worst situation outcome... Can he find out if the development company is solvent...

Just reading your post it is painfully obvious to me to make the comparison with your defence of the estate agent... they were the biggest on the island, had a good reputation, we believed what they told us..... etc. Please I don't want to see you on here posting the same spiel about this lawyer!

These lawyers, just as much as the estate agents are here to make a living from extracting your money from you - don't forget that!! That's not to say they can't do a good job, or win your case but don't just see a busy office and assume this solicitor is the nuts and will automatically get your money back. You need to decide for yourself what the chances are of getting your money back - including an assessment of whether the developers are solvent. Even if the lawyer is the best, if the law is not on your side or the developers have long gone, then there is no point to proceed.

Trollfever

His office is buzzing with various staff who dash off to deal with his instructions. He has got the names, phone numbers and relevant information he needs at hand to deal with our case. There are people waiting to see him, the phone is ringing, so a general air of activity.

Is this an indication that there are a lot of gullible people trying to recover their money from failed Spanish property investments?

inmypocketnottheirs

This is all going to get very ugly I fear.

Avicola, have a good re-read of posts 105 and 104.

I hate to say about good money after bad, but I think some of the guys and girls on here can see where I am heading.....

avicola

I hear what you all say, and thanks for that.

puddy

yes, there is a pattern here of how and why you decide to trust people and its not based on any concrete evidence of trustworthyness or business skill. i think you're overly impressed by presentation, the minions scurrying around after this posh solictor mean NOTHING.
does he speak spanish???????

on post 56, you state that you are seeing a solicitor that the estate agents recommended you,,, is this the same bloke????

you also mentioned in that post the possibility of getting a mortgage or something on some of the properties so that you could buy them,,, please dont do that....

clutton_2

this is a complex matter and it seems to me that the only way that you are going to know if you have any chance at all of taking this to court and winning is by getting a barristers opinion. The only way you can do that is by asking a solicitor to instruct a barrister.

Before the solicitor can instruct the barrister the solicitor will need to have/ compile a precise, clear summary of the whole case, and you can provide this - be as brief as possible without losing the important detail. You will also need a professional translation of the Spanish documents for your English barrister to read thru.

Try asking the Law society if there is a firm that specialises in Spanish contract law and see if they can refer you to them.

I needed an arab-speaking lawyer a few years back, and found one who had previous experience of the Saudi Arabian Work Men Law - he was the perfect person for the job and we won.

IF you are to take this to court, finding the right professional to assist you is utterly crucial.

Don't be intimidated by your new guy - go to see him armed with a list of questions and dont be afraid to ask for clarification if he waffles around any of them.

The professional you are looking to hire is a real specialist - english speaking, spanish speaking, contract-expert, property expert etc etc ..... any old joe-soap highstreet solicitor simply will not do

would you go to a consultant obstretician if you had gout ?????

or


would you go to a gynaecologist if you had trouble with your prostate ?????

markelock

CLUTTON - You might if you were pregnant?
Or
accompanying your wife to an appointment?

V. Good points though.

Too much negativity on here. It's one thing for suggestions but another to adopt a "told you so" attitude. Plenty of good advice being given, and a healthy degree of scepticism is always useful, but if this were me, I'd prefer productive comments.

avicola let us know how this progresses.

moneysavinmonkey

clutton wrote: »

would you go to a gynaecologist if you had trouble with your prostate ?????

markelock wrote: »

You might if you were pregnant?

lol!!!! :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: