[Anonymous]

We were lucky enough to get our deposit back because of the many problems Grupo Mena have had with this development. Unfortunately we were unable to get any interest on our money which was held by them for nearly two years even though a Bank Guarantee was in place. Should we count ourselves lucky and just forget it or is there anything we can do to make them pay up as they were in Breach of Contract over the year long delay? As a number of people also asked to have their deposits returned in phase 2, perhaps you could let me know if you had any luck getting any interest.

[Anonymous]

Anne, if you had a Bank Guarantee then you should have recieved interest on your deposit. Your lawyer should have ensured this.In 2005 it was 6%. I think that rate has gone down now in line with current interest rates. 🙁 As one of the lawyers recently told me, the law in Spain is not retrospective except under exceptional circumstances. You would probably have to take legal action against the developer for compensation, as you have already accepted the payment from the BG. This is just my personal opinion. I hope one of the lawyers here may be able to tell you more preciselyyour position. At least you got your deposit back, which many people here would be delighted to get!!

[Anonymous]

I am very happy for you to get your refund. I would however definately demand the interest irrespective of the rate applicable. I can assure you that if there was something in the contract in their favour the developer would have enforced it.

Unfortunalety, until the cost does not hit the bottem line of a business, they just ignore their customers interest ( this is a common attitude of the business world ) more so in Spain as they know that they will give the customers a hard time mentally/emotionally and break them down and most do. if they are strong enough to persue then the incompetancy of the court system will deter them from taking this route.

If I was you, I will take them to the Courts, if only few of us do so that the developers will start respecting the hands that are feeding them and further at some stage the Govt will look into it, let us not forget we pay 7% ( VAT) which goes directly into the Govts coffers.

[Anonymous]

Yes Anne, your lawyer should’ve made sure you got the legal delay interest on your deposit for the past two years which should be 6% although developers normally pay 4-5%.

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