- This topic has 14 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 17 years, 8 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
-
Does anyone know what rights we have to get our file from a firm of British lawyers who are dealing with our purchase of a Spanish property. They don’t answer letters, e-mails or phone calls and won’t give us any information on the situation of our completion. This has gone on for several months since the lawyer dealing with us left the firm. The building is ready but last we heard the paperwork was not though we have no up to date information.
We want to get a new solicitor to handle the final completion which we feel is straightforward. What are our rights?
-
Try contacting http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/choosingandusing/redressscheme.law
for advice? -
When you contact the law society. Please be persistent and firm, they are only slightly more help full than your spanish equivelant.
When I dealt with them some years ago for negligence by their Spanish arm of practise. The Law society kept on providing really absurd reasons for not dealing with the complaint.
Good luck if you need more info pm
-
I already looked up the Law Society. I have complained to the solicitors as they advise and will contact them again if unsatisfactory. However my main concern is that this will take too long and meantime I don’t know what is happening with my purchase. What I need to know is can I engage a new solicitor and get my file so I can get things moving. Anyone know anything about this?
-
-
What I need to know is can I engage a new solicitor and get my file so I can get things moving. Anyone know anything about this?
Hi Buffy,
The answer to your question is YES. We had three lawyers in total. Engage a new lawyer and they will then ask your “ex” lawyer for your files. The ex can/ does often say.”this person owes us money” etc and if you do then you must settle that account. Other than that, leave it all to your new lawyer to sort out for you. Just make sure the new lawyer is good!!Good Luck.
-
After having been given the run-around by our original lawyer, we just flew over to Spain, marched into their offices and demanded our file.
Said we weren’t leaving until they gave it to us, with the threat of reporting them to the Colegio de Abogados if they didn’t (joke! ….. impotent load of twits).
However, we did leave with our file underarm.
P.S. Having the conversation in reception infront of other clients of theirs also helps. 😉 -
Charlie
Although completely unrelated to the topic I once had a pronblem with a large electrical retailer in the UK. I bought a washing machine and it was defective after one week. I asked them to replace it (one week is not a reasoable time in my opinion) and they sent out an emgineer. Turned him away and asked him to take the machine with him
|They refused to give me my money back or a replacement, so I stood outside their shop and told every customer that came by to be careful and relayed my story of poor customer service.
After three people turned away the manager came out and offered me the world (especially as I would have stayed there all day and every day if need be)
The moral of the story is that if you do go to their offices do as Charlie suggests abdbe vocal in front of their existing clients, let them know what they are letting themselves in for. You may end up being carted off by the Guardia Civil, but you may also just get your files abck/
-
-
I do feel in this day and age people are standing up more for themselves against big companies – as per the recent hoo-hah over exhorbitant overdraft charges in the UK where people were getting banged £35 each time, even if overdrawn by £2.
Nice one Vince re. the washing machine – would love to have been a fly on the wall that day!
Getting back to property, how about the Danish guy who camped on the plot of his no-build, complete with placards? It worked, money back plus compensation.
Just feel that the big boys should not feel immune to ‘the little people’ getting justice when things go wrong.
As Goodstich once wrote, if we bow down to them, they will just continue with their immoral/illegal practices.
Or something like that, wasn’t it Goodstich…..? 😉 -
Thanks everybody.
I feel that we will pursue it with the Law Society just because I feel strongly about it and the firm is well known in the field so should be challenged about their service but in the meantime I will take Claire’s advice and look for a new solicitor. Anyone have any recommendations either British or Spanish english speaking. I feel confident at this stage that the build is legal, I have been told by the mortgage broker that the LFO is in place and I know that physically the apartment is finished and the snagging done.
What I obviously don’t need at this stage is another bad solicitor who drags their feet, I need someone aggressive who will complete the deal and most importantly get my file from the present firm. The area is Murcia though even Mojacar area would do as I know it well also.
Charlie, I like your style and I would certainly do this if necessary even though it would involve me in expense since I live in Northern Ireland and the solicitor is in London. Sad that even when you do your homework, engage an independent solicitor and a British one at that you still can get a bad experience.
I’m not sure I have much faith in the Legal Complaints Service but will give it a try.
-
Mark has a list of recommended lawyers. This is the one for the Murcia region.
Murcia (Costa Calida)
Ross Legal Services
Contact: Gonzalo Ross
T: +34 968 412 321
E: info@rosslegalservices.com
http://www.rosslegalservices.comYou could pm Mark and check out what he has to say about the company.
-
We also had a complaint against a london Lawyers practice, no work done on our case for six months, ignored emails and telephone calls, file was returned to us in November 2006.
We sent the File registerd post to the CCs in November, which was passed on to a another lawyers to look into our complaint, we where still not happy with the decision and it was arranged that our file would be returned to us in February, so that we could send it on to the Ombudsman.
A letter arrived but no file, i phoned the company, and was informed they thought the file was sent with the letter, i told them it wasn’t, and they said they would send it on, still it never arrived so i emailed again, had a phone call from the law society asking questions about the file, and was told to leave it with them, i then receive an email apologising, but my file can not be located.
I am now awaiting a decision on my complaint about this.
Can you believe it you send a file of papers off registerd mail to complain about a company and the company who are supposed to be investigating your complaint, lose the file.
-
Roy, welcome to todays Britain. Its like a third world Country. However in a third world Country it does not cost an arm and a leg to get products/services and if things dont get resolved pretty quickly there other more unconventional ways to resolve them.
Why do you think more people are leaving the country with flight of intelect & capital. Their order of choice Australia, Canada, Spain. The government does not talk about this, as these people are being replaced by Eastern Europeans whose skills although reqiured but do compensate for the loss of itelect and capital.
-
@shakeel wrote:
The government does not talk about this, as these people are being replaced by Eastern Europeans whose skills although reqiured but do compensate for the loss of itelect and capital
.
So, so true, Shakeel. 🙁
-
- The forum ‘Spanish Real Estate Chatter’ is closed to new topics and replies.
