CASE LAB OF THE WEEK: PROPERTY CONVEYANCE: ALWAYS PUT YOUR TRUST IN INDEPENDENT AND HONEST REGULATED SOLICITORS, LIKE “RICOR ABOGADOS&SOLICITORS”.

Our client, Mr. Martin H, bought a property in Spain and agreed to pay an initial 3.000 Euros deposit as part of the selling price. The buyers needed a Mortgage, but unfortunately, due to the economic recession, the bank ultimately refused their loan application and as a result, they failed to complete and subsequently sign the Deeds at the Notary, due to lack of funds.

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Hence, the Buyer, following our expert advice, decided to claim in Court, the full refund of the deposit, since the seller had refused to voluntarily give the money back to our client.

After a long and arduous legal battle, we won the case, and subsequently, the Seller was sentenced to give all the money back to our client, plus legal interests and costs.

The main reason adduced by the Court to support our claim, was that when the concession of a mortgage is expressly made an essential term or condition in the private purchase contract, then if at the worst scenario, the mortgage application is rejected by the bank, the buyer is given the legal right to claim the deposit back.

However, if the contract had remained silent about this particular matter, then the outcome of the case would have been exactly the opposite, and subsequently our client would have lost his money.

As a consequence, our client is feeling now doubly extremely grateful to us;

firstly, because despite the pressure exerted by the Agent, we actually were in charge of preparing the purchase agreement in its integrity and secondly and also and more importantly, because, against all the odds, we won the case!

We would like-if we may- to take this opportunity to stress the point that buying a property in a foreign country is a very serious matter indeed.

There have been sadly a significant number of swindles and frauds committed by unreliable agents and developers in Spain over the past few years.

Therefore, considering how much is at stake (in many cases, all the life savings of many foreign individuals and families), the right criteria when choosing an independent Solicitor must not be exclusively the price but the paramount quality of the services to be offered by the law firm.

Being unfamiliar with title deed procedures can make buying property in Spain a little daunting. That’s why when purchasing abroad is vital that you seek the right professional, only a qualified local Lawyer, and never an unregulated legal advisor”. Beware of cheap “low cost” Solicitors or agents, because they will not be fully qualified and as a result, the risk that conveyance process might be carried out inadequately and end up in a total disaster can be very high. For example, an unregulated advisor might inadvertently “fail” to detect possible hidden charges or encumbrances affecting the property or perhaps the purchase agreement might be poorly drafted, lacking essential information elements or containing abusive clauses, that will surely be a source of legal problems in the future.

We can tell you many real histories of English people, who bought in good faith beautiful dwellings in Spain, only to discover to their horror that the properties acquired, were totally ILLEGAL or affected by breach of planning law, which resulted in heavy penalties, fines and even demolition. In 90% of these cases, the pattern was always the same: The buyers carelessly put their trust on greedy agents and unscrupulous non independent and corrupted “Solicitors” , who were in reality protecting the seller’s interests.

We would also like to briefly introduce our Firm as follows.

RICOR ABOGADOS is an experience and TOTALLY REGULATED AND INDEPENDENT firm that specialise mainly in Estate and International Law. Our clients come from different parts of Europe and a specialized team make sure that whatever help you may need is provided in a fast and effective manner. Our broad linguistic knowledge guarantees an excellent service.

We know that each client and each case require a personalised attention.

Our aim is to establish a fluent and trusting communication with you, advising you in a rigorous and independent manner.

RICOR ABOGADOS offers independent and transparent advice and will ensure that relevant searches are rigorously carried out at the local town hall and land registry, tracking all property records and investigating any possible local urbanization plans affecting the property.

We will also check that there are no debts and the vendor, who is selling it, has the permission to sell it-i.e, he is actually the current owner, and be reassured that the purchase contract you finally sign is 100% legal, and exclusively prepared by our firm.

In essence, our goal will always be to protect your interests in the most resolute, honest and professional way and we will strive to develop a long term relationship with you. If you kindly check our testimonials section of your website, you will find plenty of testimonials form real clients who put their trust in our Firm and they are all now all extremely grateful to our Firm for the excellent work and protection offered, which fills us with a lot of professional proud.

Therefore, If you need independent, impartial advice on buying or selling your property in Spain or for any other matter, please contact us by e-mail ricorsolicitors@yahoo.co.uk or visit our website www.ricorabogados.com, to arrange an initial face to face consultation.

Thank you very much and we look forward to helping you!

Mr Oscar Ricor

“NON-PRACTISING ENGLISH SOLICITOR IN ENGLAND AND WALES”, under the “Solicitors Regulation Authority” (SRA) SRA number 519196 and practicing Spanish Solicitor