COUPLE FIGHT EVICTION FROM THEIR HOME - STEWART AND LYNDA FORRESTER
A COUPLE from El Galan is having to take turns in going out after solicitors told them that bailiffs could come any day to evict them. Stewart and Lynda Forrester bought a Tecnologia Urbanistica house through Atlas International in 2003. In 2004 the house, which was part of a row of six, suffered severe damage due to the subsidence of an end terrace that had not been underpinned properly. Structural engineers advised the couple to leave the house immediately after six inch cracks started to appear throughout the house. In the meantime, Tecnologia’s owner, Emilio Martin de las Mulas Naranjo, offered Stewart and Lynda another house down the road in Bosque de las Lomas 16, where they are still living for most of the year. The couple paid in full - more than 149,000€ - for the property to Atlas International.
FIGHTING
The couple never received any confirmation that the money had been paid to the builder and like with so many other cases that RTN has heard about, the owner of Tecnologia then took a mortgage out on the property. The couple have been fighting for their deeds since 2005 and have been constantly pushed from pillar to post. Their solicitors at the time, Aroca Seiquer, even phoned them at their home in South Wales to say that the deeds were in the office and when the couple flew over to retrieve them, the solicitors said that the deeds weren’t there after all! The couple has known for some time that there was a debt on their property and even got a court judgement which states that all debts on the property must be cleared.
NO LIFE
Unbeknown to the couple, the bank has since repossessed the property and the auction took place six months ago. This was only discovered after the pair changed solicitors to the same company that is helping other Tecnologia homeowners. As a result, the bailiffs could come any day and change the locks and the couple will be evicted from their home. Stewart told RTN: “If we need food from the supermarket, we take it in turns to go. We can’t afford to both leave the house. If one of us has to go out, the other stays at home, but what kind of life is that? We are supposed to be enjoying our retirement together.”
Jose Ramon Vidal from the Atlas Group said: “Atlas forwarded payments received to the builder as per the contract they had with Tecnología and is in receipt of a certificate stating that the funds were received by the builder and keys were passed to the clients by Tecnología.” RTN asked for a copy of this certificate but was told that it would be sent direct to the couple. Keep reading RTN for more on this story as it develops.
AUCTION STOPPED IN THE NICK OF TIME
21 JUNE 2012 WRITTEN BY LOUISE CLARKE ( ROUNDTOWN NEWS ).
Bosque de las Lomas III
IT STARTED in March with an article in RTN and after weeks of legal wrangling, the residents of Bosque de las Lomas III in Orihuela Costa found out last week that the auction which was due to take place yesterday (Thursday) has been cancelled.
RTN’s article featured Iwan and Gill Williams who had bought their dream home in the sun and paid for it in full only to have it re-mortgaged by rogue building firm Tecnologia Urbanistica S.L. Their house, along with 15 others in the community, all paid for in full, were due to be auctioned by CAM bank, whom the builder had remortgaged the properties with.
VICTIMS
As soon as RTN’s article was published, more homeowners came forward to say that they were in the same situation. CPC Holdings, who had read RTN’s article contacted them all and instructed their Spanish solicitors, Agüera y Arrebola, to fight for the group, which by that stage amounted to more than 20 Tecnologia ‘victims’.
The pattern of each purchase was almost identical; all had used Atlas International as agents and Aroca Seiquer as solicitors on the recommendation of Atlas.
It was only when the deeds of the house failed to materialize that the homeowners realized that there may be a problem with their ‘dream house in the sun’.
VICTORY
The cancellation of the auction is a very positive step and one that has come as a direct result of all the hard work by the legal team representing the homeowners. Nikki Crozier from CPC Holdings told RTN: “I cannot express in words how delighted we are at the recent victory in the courts for our clients. It is a testament to their combined fighting spirit that they trusted us to win this case for them. No-one can imagine the horror of finding out that the property you purchased was in the process of been sold and you were to be thrown on the streets.” She added: “In less than three months our Spanish Barristers, Tomas Agüera and Jose Manuel Arrebola, have succeeded in suspending the auction indefinitely.”
FIGHT
But that is only one bank which has been stopped from repossessing and selling on these people’s houses. There are three other banks which have vested interests in Tecnologia houses all over the southern Costa Blanca. So, the fight is by no means over and soon criminal charges will be brought against the rogue builder in an attempt to not get the money back, because that is long gone, but to get some justice for the years of stress and upset that his selfish, greedy, and frankly fraudulent actions have caused these poor people. Nikki concluded: “Our clients can now live in peace whilst we file claims with the liquidator, criminal claims, obtain "escrituras and regularize the development itself.”
In the nick of time. Well done to our legal team.
TESTIMONIALS
Many thanks for all of your hard work sorting this out for us, it is much appreciated.
Regards
Bernie
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you. We came to you in the hope of selling our house even though it was illegal as we didn't know what else to do. Now you've shown us that all is not lost and are helping organize the mortgage that we couldn't afford and in our twilight years it makes all the difference. I honestly don' t know what we would have done without your help and advice and even though we never want to set foot in Spain again, we are so glad that the house is no longer going to be demolished and all this nightmare is now getting sorted. It's done wonders for our health at this stage in life and we may now be able to leave a little something for our children rather than leaving a pile of rubble. Look forward to popping in for a cuppa again soon
Billy and Iris
Brilliant news,
Tell Liz that champagne will be on ice
Thanks to everyone for their hard work.
Kind regards
Sharon and Terry Williamson
Hi Nikki,
Well done to you and Tomas.
We are all delighted.
Best Regards
Dear Nikki and Tomas Jose,
Thank you for all your hard work.
This is Fantastic News!!
John and Helen
Thank you for all your efforts on our behalf.
Peter and Sue
This is Fantastic News!!!
Congratulations and appreciation to the Team.
Roger
Pete, Mark and I are very pleased that you are handing
this claim for us. I hope that you had a safe journey home
All the best and once again, thank you for taking this claim for us.
Guy
Can't believe the level of effort you have put on helping us.
Kevin H.
I am so delighted with your service.
B. Strongheim
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