Spanish lawyers Fuster & Associates issue warning over reclaiming lost deposits, as October deadline looms
- Deadline for reclaiming lost off-plan property deposits is 7 October 2020
- Fuster & Associatees has helped over 200 people claim lost deposits
- New Fuster Standard quality assurance mark encourages safer buying
Expert Spanish property lawyers Fuster & Associates have issued a warning to all those who lost deposits to property companies that went bust in Spain and have yet to try and claim the money back. The company has warned that those who don’t take action in the next six months will miss their chance to reclaim any of their lost funds. That’s because the deadline for requesting the return of funds given to a property developer is 7 October 2020.
Fuster & Associates has already helped more than 200 people recover the deposits they put down on Spanish properties in the early 2010s and subsequently lost due to developers going bust. To date, the firm has a 100% success rate for such cases.
On 7 October 2015, the Spanish Supreme Court took action in favour of those buyers, in a ruling that assigned a share of the responsibility to Spain’s banks and that gave the would-be buyers five years to take action. The court asserted that those banks that had failed to ensure that guarantees were in place to return payments in the event of a breach were liable to pay out in certain circumstances.
David Fuster, Founding Partner, Fuster & Associates
That regime requires real estate developers to guarantee the amounts paid by buyers from the moment the building licence is obtained, rather than from the signing of the private purchase contract, as was previously the case. The change means that the buyer must ensure that the developer has been granted a building permit before they hand over any funds. If they don’t, there will be no guarantee or surety insurance that they will be able to reclaim any of their funds should the developer go bust.
Buyers looking to avoid such issues now have a solution in the Fuster Standard. This market-leading ‘Qualified Approval Process’ sets industry benchmarks for quality, assurance and reliability within the Spanish property market. It proves to buyers that all the necessary legal paperwork is in place in relation to the approved property. Buyers can therefore purchase with confidence, safe in the knowledge that all the correct steps have been taken.
“The lost deposits scandal had a far-reaching impact when it came to buyer confidence in the Spanish property market. Families lost their entire life savings and the extensive coverage of the situation caused many would-be buyers to lose faith in the new-build market. By introducing the Fuster Standard, we’re enabling families to buy safely, with minimal risk.”
David Fuster, Founding Partner, Fuster & Associates
For more information please contact Fuster & Associates on +34 965 271 505 or visit www.fuster-associates.com