COVID can’t stop justice as €25 million now won for Spanish property owners by CostaLuz Lawyers
- 500 cases now won using 50-year-old Spanish law
- Cases for 71 clients won in 2020 despite COVID-19 disruption to courts
- Decade-long cases see some clients spending entire retirement years fighting for justice
Spanish property law firm CostaLuz Lawyers has announced the recovery of €25 million for clients who paid deposits on homes that were never built (or finished) due to the global financial crisis back in 2007/08.
With another 200 cases in progress, the company expects that figure to rise significantly over the months and years ahead, despite the fact that 28 December 2020 marks the final date for buyers in this position to start legal proceedings.
“Since our first landmark victory using Law 57/1968 back in 2012, when we won €1.5 million plus costs and fees, we’ve won around 500 cases for clients who thought their deposits were gone forever. With some cases taking as long as a decade, this really highlights the value of persistence when it comes to navigating the Spanish legal system.”
Keith Rule, www.costaluzlawyers.com
47 of those wins, representing a total of 71 clients, have been won in 2020. That means the CostaLuz Lawyers team has won approximately €3.5 million this year alone, despite courts closing and other significant disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With cases taking as long as a decade to work their way through the courts, some of the clients that CostaLuz Lawyers is winning money back for are now in their 80s. Many were on the verge of retirement when they originally put deposits down on their dream Spanish homes back in the boom years of 2004 to 2008. They’ve since spent years of their retirement fighting for justice.
Other of CostaLuz Lawyers’ clients are just approaching retirement now – a prospect made vastly more appealing by wins representing tens of thousands of pounds. Chris Nairn, for example, was 50 when he first paid a deposit of around €125,000 for a property in Murcia. When the developer didn’t deliver on time, Chris asked for his deposit back. He finally got it back – plus interest and fees – a full decade later, thanks to the CostaLuz Lawyers team.
“When I first bought, putting down a 30% deposit, it was a dream come true, but the property was not completed on time and the nightmare began. CostaLuz Lawyers warned me the road ahead would be long and tough and that Spanish Law is complex and not easy to navigate. It took 10 years, with a lot of ups and downs, but I remembered what they said and held firm. Finally, we got our money back with interest.”
Chris Nairn, client of www.costaluzlawyers.com
The majority of those who have won their money back had put deposits down on properties on the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca. However, CostaLuz Lawyers has also successfully represented clients in relation to off-plan properties on the Costa del Azahar, Costa Brava and inland. Most hail from the UK and Ireland originally, along with a number of Spanish nationals and residents from elsewhere in Europe.
“There is just a handful of days left for buyers who lost deposits to initiate legal proceedings. It can be a long, arduous process to obtain a refund, but with so much at stake, it’s a process that’s worth persevering with. The sums of money in question, particularly once interest and fees are factored in, can make a huge difference to the course of people’s retirement years.”
Keith Rule, www.costaluzlawyers.com
For more information, please contact CostaLuz Lawyers’ UK office on +44 1908 635 111 and speak with Keith. To speak with Maria in the Spanish office, call +34 956 092 687 or you can visit www.costaluzlawyers.es