# Are false invoices legal?



## LizzyC (Sep 10, 2012)

Hi all! Just looking for moral support and maybe solid knowledge from someone..

I have bought a house in portugal 7 years ago, everything went according to plan except for the electrical part, the electrician did not fully complete the job and what was completed (some part) is not working correctly... we kept 300 euros back because of this, the work was completed without a contract or any paperwork and a verbal figure was agreed upon, now in march of this year he has taken us to court for this amount owing and he has made 2 invoices listing all the goods to a value of over 3000 euros and states that the goods were delivered in march, we weren't even there at the time, we were in the UK, neither we nor he have any paperwork to prove that he even did the work for us but the house does have a habitational licence and is completely legal with all the necessary licences and fiscal documents, just nothing with his company name on... This electrician was used as the first one we hired could not do the job at the last minute and so found us this one. I just need to know is it legal for the electrician to produce these false invoices 7 years later and what chances do i have in court...in my opinion portugal has a very corrupt legal system and I'm not sure i would win the case...i have the building contractor as witness to all this and he has offered me his support as a legal witness and also saw what was wrong with the electrical installation in my house. I would welcome any help/comments on this ...


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

No false invoice is legal, but as he's presenting them as legal then you have to prove they aren't or the work he did was not completed or substandard.

First you need to check if he can bring a case against you after 7 years and what procedure he should have followed, before commencing Court proceedings, should he have invoiced you at certain periods by Registered Mail etc?

One way if it is possible is to demand his company tax returns for the years in question, these invoices should show as outstanding debts.
You say you have no paperwork but do you have receipts of any sort for monies you did pay him or for subsequent electrician to finish and correct? 

The fact that the house is legal with all licences doesn't unfortunately help your case as part of that is the electrics being tested and passed, but if you had to employ another electrician to achieve that and you can prove it, then that would help your case.


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## Maggy Crawford (Sep 18, 2010)

Maybe there is a "statute of limitations" in Portugal as in UK applying to some cases which I believe is 7 years and perhaps is why the electrician has raised the matter now.


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