Law firm recommendation

[bentley]

I am looking for a good honest Lawyer to work with me on a commercial property purchase . Can anyone recommend a lawyer with a good reputation In Spain with some experience of this?
Thank you

 

[SPview]

I am looking for a good honest Lawyer to work with me on a commercial property purchase . Can anyone recommend a lawyer with a good reputation In Spain with some experience of this?
Thank you

Depends a little on whereabouts in Spain you are buying. I and some friends used Manzanares International who are based in Malaga and Marbella and inland also I think. If you call them speak to a guy (Lawyer) called Eric, he was helpful to us. 0034 952 061504

 

[ukrich]

Hi Bentley,

If you require a lawyer in the Costa del Sol region please let me know. My lawyer is excellent and is one of only afew lawyers who actually managed to recover our cash from Aifos- to those who know about Aifos they will understand!!

 

[BattyeFord]

Depends a little on whereabouts in Spain you are buying. I and some friends used Manzanares International who are based in Malaga and Marbella and inland also I think. If you call them speak to a guy (Lawyer) called Eric, he was helpful to us. 0034 952 061504

I used Manzanares.
They assured me at the initial meeting, when I paid my deposit, that the property I was buying was protected by a bank guarantee, but after many many requests on my part they failed to produce it . Emails took up to six weeks to be answered or were not answered at all. It seemed a succession of lawyers dealt with my file and the answers they gave to my queries regarding the construction progress were at odds with what progress was being achieved. I.e., none. At best I was being fobbed off.
Even when the building stopped and, concerned, I asked for assurances that my funds were safe should the builder go bankrupt, they said I should stop worrying so much and everything was fine.
Eventually, because of the extreme lateness (3 years) in completion of the build, I asked them to cancel my contract and request the return of my (now 30%) deposit. They told me I would need to take the developer (who by this stage was the bank after the two previous builder/developers they had financed went into liquidation) to court if I wanted to see my money again. They offered to do this work for me and would pass me over to their litigation department who would send me a quotation for the cost of the case.

I changed lawyers at this stage and when my new lawyer received my file there was no bank guarantee, there never had been. When I asked Manzanares, 'Why?', they told me the developer had failed in his duty to send one.
It has been the law in Spain since 1968 that developers of off-plan property must protect purchasers funds by way of a supplying them with a bank guarantee. That being the case then why did Manzanares with their imposing marble clad swanky offices in the centre of Marbella fail to ensure I had one? Or is that not part of the service for which they quoted me over 2500 euros ?

 

[rowlandsbb]

Did not think that you could advertise on this forum direct...so it is not easy to give posters a name of a good lawyer

A client of mine exercised a Bank Guarantee in Almeria [ still the area which probably has the best potential for growth over the next 10 years] ...the lawyer was instructed late March 2009 and depsoit and interest at circa 5% for 2 years was paid first week of June
So there are good lawyers about!!

 

[SPview]

I used Manzanares.
They assured me at the initial meeting, when I paid my deposit, that the property I was buying was protected by a bank guarantee, but after many many requests on my part they failed to produce it . Emails took up to six weeks to be answered or were not answered at all. It seemed a succession of lawyers dealt with my file and the answers they gave to my queries regarding the construction progress were at odds with what progress was being achieved. I.e., none. At best I was being fobbed off.
Even when the building stopped and, concerned, I asked for assurances that my funds were safe should the builder go bankrupt, they said I should stop worrying so much and everything was fine.
Eventually, because of the extreme lateness (3 years) in completion of the build, I asked them to cancel my contract and request the return of my (now 30%) deposit. They told me I would need to take the developer (who by this stage was the bank after the two previous builder/developers they had financed went into liquidation) to court if I wanted to see my money again. They offered to do this work for me and would pass me over to their litigation department who would send me a quotation for the cost of the case.

I changed lawyers at this stage and when my new lawyer received my file there was no bank guarantee, there never had been. When I asked Manzanares, 'Why?', they told me the developer had failed in his duty to send one.
It has been the law in Spain since 1968 that developers of off-plan property must protect purchasers funds by way of a supplying them with a bank guarantee. That being the case then why did Manzanares with their imposing marble clad swanky offices in the centre of Marbella fail to ensure I had one? Or is that not part of the service for which they quoted me over 2500 euros ?

Hi Betty
Im sorry that you had such a bad experience! just goes to show that whatever we buy, wherever we shop, or whoever we choose to deliver a service - some will have great experiences, others horrendous ones! We can only go by our own personal experiences and thankfully mine was a really good one, Im so sorry that yours wasnt.
Si

 

[BattyeFord]

SPview

""Im sorry that you had such a bad experience! just goes to show that whatever we buy, wherever we shop, or whoever we choose to deliver a service - some will have great experiences, others horrendous ones!""

We are not talking about shopping for a new pair of socks when we chose a lawyer!!!
We handed over 105000.00 euros to this firm of lawyers, who I now see are touting for business on this forum under the guise of dishing out advice.

An honest lawyer would have tried to put things right for US who were their clients, or so we thought when we paid them. An honest lawyer would have bent over backwards to ensure that any failure on their part was rectified. An honest lawyer would not have simply left the client with no option but to change lawyers. An honest lawyer would not brush aside our genuine concerns about the existence of a bank guarantee to secure our funds (knowing full well they had not secured one before parting with our money) to ensure the sale ran smoothly for the developer and estate agent (from whom they received multiple clients). An honest lawyer would have been concerned for their reputation. But I forgot. These lawyers are in Spain where regulation of lawyers is almost non existent compared to that of the UK and so there is no real need for them to be honest lawyers.

Manzanares must have seen my post on this forum and yet have not offered any defence of their failure to ensure I had a bank guarantee. Why? Because they cannot offer one and simply do not care. Why should they?

 

[Bissime]

SPview

""Im sorry that you had such a bad experience! just goes to show that whatever we buy, wherever we shop, or whoever we choose to deliver a service - some will have great experiences, others horrendous ones!""

We are not talking about shopping for a new pair of socks when we chose a lawyer!!!
We handed over 105000.00 euros to this firm of lawyers, who I now see are touting for business on this forum under the guise of dishing out advice.

An honest lawyer would have tried to put things right for US who were their clients, or so we thought when we paid them. An honest lawyer would have bent over backwards to ensure that any failure on their part was rectified. An honest lawyer would not have simply left the client with no option but to change lawyers. An honest lawyer would not brush aside our genuine concerns about the existence of a bank guarantee to secure our funds (knowing full well they had not secured one before parting with our money) to ensure the sale ran smoothly for the developer and estate agent (from whom they received multiple clients). An honest lawyer would have been concerned for their reputation. But I forgot. These lawyers are in Spain where regulation of lawyers is almost non existent compared to that of the UK and so there is no real need for them to be honest lawyers.

Manzanares must have seen my post on this forum and yet have not offered any defence of their failure to ensure I had a bank guarantee. Why? Because they cannot offer one and simply do not care. Why should they?

Did you end up getting your money back in the end? It's an old post I know but with what's going on know there should be no reason you can not get a 100% refund?