# Buyer beware?!



## SamWard (Dec 17, 2016)

My husband and I signed a contract in May 2016 for an off-plan property from one of Spain's oldest and most reputable builders, planning a dream move to Mallorca from Canada under the Golden Visa program.

At the time we signed the reservation contract in April, the villa was nearly completed and was to be handed over to us in July. We added an optional pool and paid a 50% deposit on it when we signed the deposit contract in May.

At that time we agreed to provide the builder with an extension to mid October to complete the pool because they could not do any excavation until early September and during high season for tourists.

A few days before the scheduled closing of the deal, they said the pool was nearly complete and for us to have the funds ready in our Spanish bank account. We complied and took a heavy loss on currency conversion as the $CDN to Euro was at its lowest point.

As it turned out the builder was unable to complete the sale because they had not obtained the completion certificate for the pool - at least that's what we were told. They said it would take up to 2 months to get this done.

We are now in mid December and it has come to light that the builder did not even apply for a permit to build the pool! And to the best of our knowledge has not done so since mid October.

That's all beside the fact that they have been trying to trick and coerce us into completing the sale with an "illegal" pool on the property so that all of the potential fines and penalties and possibly remedial work to return the property to its former state becomes our problem.

Needless to say, we have refused to close against the advice of our lawyer who was also pushing us to close. There seems to be no set date or end in sight for this situation to be resolved.

Needless to say, we are completely lost... our lives are up in the air... I quit my job in July to get ready for the move in October. I can not go back to work and we can not even apply for our Golden Visa because there's no firm date, after having met all the requirements and submitting some of the documents to our solicitor twice for the July and October dates.

Frankly, we are shocked and very disappointed that after all the efforts of the Spanish and Balearics governments to weed out illegal constructions, even one of Spain's oldest and supposedly most reputable builders is still doing this.

But what's even worse is that we don't know if there is any recourse or legal procedures to deal with this. Our lawyer is still dealing with the client relations department of this builder and being nice and accommodating is not what this situation requires!

On that note, we need some help and advice on what we should do. Even knowing if there are others like us out there or if this is an isolated situation and an honest mistake would help.

Not knowing what's going on and what's going to happen has been very stressful to me and my husband. He is basically suffering from insomnia at this point and I had my first ever panic attack a couple of days ago and cried all day. We're both in our 40's!

If you're out there and you can help or you know someone who can, please reach out to us.

Thank you in advance,
Samantha


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

What a horrible situation to be in, it must be very worrying I imagine.
Here are a couple of links that might give you some ideas
http://www.registradores.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Guide-AIPP-RICS-RDE.pdfhttps://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-buy-property-in-spain#other-sources-of-advice

Buying off plan is always riskier, but to do it in a foreign coutry and whilst you are not even resident seems to be something to avoid if possible.


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## FullCircle (Dec 9, 2016)

Hi Samantha
I'm sorry I can't offer any advice but I just wanted to say that my heart goes out to you and I hope your situation is resolved in your favour very soon. Stay strong.


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## jax2bcn (Dec 21, 2016)

I'd find another attorney for a second opinion - someone local to the area who specializes in construction law and contracts.

Stay strong.


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## Silversally (Jan 30, 2016)

So sorry for you - what a nightmare!! What's the name of the building firm? Hope this gets sorted x


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