Could you be owed money from the Spanish property collapse?

Did you lose your deposit when purchasing a Spanish property off plan? You could be in line for a pay out following a landmark ruling in the Supreme Court in Spain.

It is reported that up to 100,000 UK investors could be paid as much as £20,000 each. This would total £2bn owed to Britons who lost money before 2008.

The deposits paid to developers when purchasing off plan should have been paid into a bank account

and protected by a bank guarantee. It was previously thought that if there was no written bank guarantee the deposits could not be recovered from the banks if the developer collapsed or disappeared. The Supreme Court has said that the banks that received the deposits can be required to repay them to the buyers even if there was no written guarantee.

Property-buyers who had put down cash deposits were at the end of the list of creditors and were usually unsecured. Thousands of UK buyers lost their money.

It is vital that those who feel they may have a claim seek legal advice first.

Despite the ruling, Spanish banks are unlikely to pay out without a contest. They have too much to lose.

Spanish law is strict when it comes to claims. A claim can only be submitted once. If the claims are lost, they can never be considered again. It is very different to UK law and can be very complex. No matter how well you may be able to speak the language it can be difficult to translate and understand Spanish legal documents and Spanish law.

Labrums have successfully recovered deposits from Spanish banks for many buyers. We work closely with Spanish abogados and have a Spanish Solicitor based in our St Albans office, to ensure that clients have the benefit of dealing with specialists successfully making such claims in the Spanish courts and an English firm of solicitors with all the security that provides.

If you believe you may have a case for a pay out from money you lost in Spanish property then contact Michael or Susana on 01727 858807 or email crt@labrums.co.uk